33. Mr. J. Hillasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what additional staff and cost are involved in the creation of the new Development Department at the Scottish Office.
§ Mr. LeburnThe Scottish Development Department was set up in June, 1962, to discharge certain functions previously assigned to the Scottish Home Department and to the Department of Health for Scotland. No additional cost and no additional staff were involved.
Mr. HillAm I to take it from that Answer that the people employed in St. Andrew's House were under-employed before the new Development Department was set up? If so, why?
§ Mr. LeburnCertainly not.
§ Mr. Hector HughesDoes "development" in this connotation include industry, employment and unemployment? Will any of the new officials deal with the terribly acute problem of increasing unemployment in north-east Scotland?
§ Mr. LeburnPrimarily these are matters for my right hon. Friends the President of the Board of Trade and the Minister of Labour.
§ Mr. RossWhat is new about this Department? Are not the people concerned merely playing musical desks in St. Andrew's House?
§ Mr. LeburnNo one has ever claimed that this Department did more than allow the Secretary of State to discharge with the maximum efficiency those of his functions that bear most directly on the development of the Scottish economy in matters such as housing, electricity, water, roads, and so on.
§ Mr. RossI am sorry. I did not get the whole reply. Who was it whom the Secretary of State was to discharge?
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I think that we must move on to the next Question.
§ 34. Mr. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what attention is being paid by the Development Department of the Scottish Office to those areas, not 440 included within scheduled districts under the Local Employment Act, where traditional industries are declining.
§ Mr. LeburnIn considering proposals for the development of services for which my right hon. Friend is directly or indirectly responsible, his Departments have regard to the employment and population problems of all areas in Scotland.
§ Mr. RossSurely the hon. Gentleman is aware of the growing frustration in these areas in which traditional industries are declining, factories are lying empty and people are idle? They get no help from the Board of Trade and little but the sort of vague statement we have just had in respect of assistance from the new Development Department. When is something going to be done in respect of assistance through the Local Employment Act to deal with this real problem?
§ Mr. LeburnThe hon. Member must distinguish between services for which my right hon. Friend is responsible—which are, as he knows, in the matters of developments covering roads, electricity, housing, water and the like. In regard to industry, he must address his questions to the President of the Board of Trade.
§ Dr. Dickson MabonIs it not the case that under Section 5 of the Local Employment Act the Secretary of State has extensive responsibilities for the clearance of derelict sites, such as those in my constituency, the clearance of which we have been trying for years to get him to approve?
§ Mr. LeburnI am, of course, anxious to get on with derelict sites but I was answering the Question in the name of the hon. Member for Kilmarnock (Mr. Ross) about industry.