§ 9. Mr. Hendryasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the total value of buildings at present under construction or approval for technical and commercial education in Scotland.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Lady Tweedsmuir)The value of work under construction at 31st May, 1964, the latest date for which figures are available, was £14.7 million; and proposals have been approved for other projects estimated to cost £15.8 million, a total of £30.5 million.
§ Mr. HendryI congratulate my hon. Friend, and I really do congratulate her. After all, it is her Department which has produced these schemes. Although congratulating her on approving these schemes, may I ask for her assurance that she will do everything possible to ensure that agriculture is treated as a science or technology and given its proper place in these schemes?
§ Lady TweedsmuirI thank my hon. Friend for the compliment he paid to the Department for what it has done over the years, which I accept. I will take note of his suggestion.
§ Mr. RossWhat is the time lag between the approval and starting and between starting and completion? How does the cost change from the first approval to completion? Is the noble Lady aware that I have just been re-examining in the Library the statement made to me in June, 1955, about the approval of the Kilmarnock Technical College at a cost of £¼ million, and I am still waiting on it being completed in 1964 at a cost of nearly £1 million?
§ Lady TweedsmuirAs there are a great many projects involved, I could not give the hon. Gentleman an accurate reply to the first part of his supplementary question. Ten and a half million £S worth of building will be completed in this financial year, which involves over 13 new colleges.