Scotland (Hansard, 9 March 1964)

§ 1. Mr. W. Hamilton
asked the Minister without Portfolio to what extent his publicity about facilities available to firms seeking to develop in Scotland deals with the quality and quantity of the labour supply.

§ 2. Mr. Millan
asked the Minister without Portfolio to what extent he publicises the availability of adequate transport facilities in Scotland as an attraction to potential industrial developers.

§ The Minister without Portfolio (Mr. W. F. Deedes)
The booklet Room to Expand contains a section on the labour market in Scotland. This makes the point that Scotland has a surplus of people available for work and that these are people with industrial sympathies and experience and a high 2 standard of basic and specialised education. The booklet also contains sections on road, rail and air communications, both within Scotland and linking Scotland with other parts of the country and overseas.

§ Mr. Hamilton
Can the right hon. Gentleman say whether the information provided shows where the labour is located? In other words, does it point out the growth areas and also the other areas with high rates of unemployment? Does the booklet also give particulars of the training which these men have at their disposal? How and to what extent is this literature distributed?

§ Mr. Deedes
The answer to the first question is "No". This being a booklet for Great Britain, it cannot go into undue detail, but inquiries are invited at the end of the booklet to get the details which readers may require from the regional offices. I think that that answers the hon. Member's other two points.

§ Mr. Millan
On the question of transport, is the right hon. Gentleman satisfied that he is getting proper co-operation from his Government colleagues? Is he not aware that in Scotland there is considerable dissatisfaction with the attitude of the Minister of Transport towards the Beeching plan, and in the case of the Minister of Aviation considerable dissatisfaction about the cutting of air services between Scotland and Scandinavia? Can the right hon. Gentleman consult his 3 colleagues so that there may be proper co-operation?

§ Mr. Deedes
Without accepting any of that, what concerns me is that in this brochure particulars are set out about Scottish communications and what will interest the developer. Information is given about the new express freight services, the new marshalling yards, and the massive improvements in the trunk road service.

§ Mr. G. M. Thomson
Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that he would find it easier to publicise the attractions of the Dundee development area to industrialists if he could persuade the Minister of Aviation to start an air service between Dundee and the South?

§ Mr. Deedes
I will take note of that.

§ 4. Mr. Ross
asked the Minister without Porfolio to what extent publicity concerning the potentialities of Scotland is co-ordinated with the activities of the Scottish Council and other public bodies.

§ Mr. Deedes
Through the Scottish Information Office, which is responsible to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland, close contact is maintained with the Scottish Council and other bodies to achieve the widest and most effective publicity for Scotland both at home and overseas.

§ Mr. Ross
In connection with his responsibilities for publicity, will the right hon. Gentleman appreciate that the Scottish Council, for instance, has had delegations visiting Scandinavia to try to encourage trade activities between Scotland and that part of the world? May I ask what the position is now when we have other Government Departments hindering aspects of those activities in the matter of air services?

§ Mr. Deedes
I do not accept that at all. This work is done through the Scottish Information Office, and there is a good deal of evidence to show that, working with such bodies as the Films of Scotland Committee and others, it has put over very effective publicity.

§ Mr. Ross
Will the right hon. Gentleman keep the publicity up to date? It is no good publicising the availability of air services to Prestwick when the Government are cutting down that air 4 service. It is no good publicising air services in the Highlands when the Government are removing them as well. When will real concern be shown about what is happening in Scotland, and when can we have adequate services and publicity?

§ Mr. Deedes
However much money is spent on publicising this and that, the portrait of Scotland is largely painted by those who represent it.

§ 6. Mr. Rankin
asked the Minister without Portfolio what special steps he is taking to publicise the attractions of the Scottish Highlands in order to attract more visitors during the summer of 1964.

§ Mr. Deedes
The Scottish Tourist Board publicises the tourist attractions of Scotland throughout the United Kingdom. Publicity overseas is undertaken by the British Travel and Holidays Association which acts in close consultation with the Tourist Board. The attractions of the Highlands as a holiday area will continue to form an important element in these campaigns.

§ Mr. Rankin
I am aware of those facts, but I am anxious to know exactly what the right hon. Gentleman is doing to support them, say with funds. Is he aware that during the winter of 1963 the weather in the Western Isles was of Mediterranean quality, while the rest of Britain was freezing? Does he realise that that attraction has not been sufficiently publicised by himself or by his Department? If he takes that fact in conjunction with the winter sports in the Cairngorms and other places, does he not realise that we could create in the Highlands of Scotland a winter tourist season which would make tourism not a seasonal but a permanent business in the Highlands? Can he say what he is doing with funds to support those people, including his hon. Friend the Member for Brighton, Kemptown (Mr. David James), who are trying to show that "Nessie", the greatest attraction of all, is not just something in somebody's imagination but a real thing? Could he get it to surface with the help of his hon. Friend?

§ Mr. Deedes
Snow in the Cairngorms this winter would be welcome for winter sports. In answer to the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question, the 5 British Travel and Holidays Association, which is responsible for publicising these places overseas, gets a substantial grant from the Board of Trade.

§ Mr. Rankin
How much?

§ Mr. Deedes
£1½ million in 1963–64. From that it reimburses the Tourist Board for the work that it does in preparing special Scottish material for use overseas. This was worth £40,000 in 1963–64.