HC Deb 04 April 1962 vol 657 cc439-40
17. Mr. Emrys Hughes

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he is taking to increase the rate of house building and school building in the areas designated as reception areas under his dispersal plans; and if he proposes to give additional subsidies to local authorities in the areas to provide accommodation for the additional population.

Mr. Galbraith

No special steps are being taken, and no additional subsidies are proposed because of designation under the dispersal scheme.

Mr. Hughes

If the Minister has plans for dispersing the population to areas which are already overcrowded, does not he think that he should make some provision?

Mr. Galbraith

No, Sir. I do not think so. It is perfectly obvious that in an emergency we will have to put up with conditions which perhaps are not those which we should like to have in ordinary times.

18. Mr. Emrys Hughes

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland to what extent the towns of Ayr and Prestwick and the towns on the Firth of Clyde have been designated as neutral or reception areas under the new plans for the dispersal of the population in the event of nuclear war.

Mr. Galbraith

The towns of Ayr and Prestwick and the other towns on the Ayrshire coast have been designated as reception areas. Cove and Kilcreg-gan, Dunoon, Gourock and Rothesay are neutral areas.

Mr. Hughes

When the Polaris submarine base came to Dunoon we were told by the commander of the "Proteus" that Dunoon was perfectly safe. Can the Minister tell us why the Government do not now regard Dunoon as such a safe area, and also will he tell us why he is proposing to make Prestwick a reception area when it is one of the most important American bases in Britain?

Mr. Galbraith

The intention is to disperse people from the large industrial areas. I think that the coast of Ayr, near which I live myself, is completely safe.

Mr. Manuel

Will the Minister tell the House why his right hon. Friend who, apparently, is pledged to a policy of dispersal—though we cannot see how it is to take place—is retaining all the shelters in tenement properties in the densely populated areas in Glasgow?

Mr. Galbraith

It is unlikely that all the population will be dispersed.

Mrs. Hart

Can the Minister say whether this is a new policy of civil defence which we are hearing about today, and whether a place which provides a number one target should be designated as a reception area? If so, will the hon. Gentleman offer some advice to his right hon. Friend the Home Secretary about designating air bases in the Norfolk area as reception areas also?

Mr. Galbraith

I should like to look into that point.