HC Deb 26 May 1965 vol 713 cc601-3
26. Mr. David Steel

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the regional study of the Borders will be made available to the public.

41. Mr. Brewis

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when he intends to publish the South-West of Scotland Development Plan.

Mr. Ross

Publication of these studies in their present form would not, I think, be helpful.

Mr. Steel

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that there will be considerable concern at that Answer? Does not the right hon. Gentleman realise that any realistic regional policy must carry with it the feelings of the people in this area? Does he appreciate that it is absolutely vital that these studies should be open for discussion by the local authorities and other people concerned in the development of their own region and that the present situation is quite intolerable?

Mr. Ross

I do not know whether the hon. Member knows it in his belated appearance on the Parliamentary scene, but I can assure him that the Economic Planning Board has had discussions with the people in the area. Therefore, this fact does not altogether coincide with what he has suggested. This matter is at present before the Economic Planning Council and that Council has formed itself into a special committee for the consideration in depth of these regional matters. It would be most misleading to publish what are really preliminary working papers rather than something that is the outcome of full study and upon which future policy will be based. This is what we want. If the hon. Member had been in the House when a certain survey was published in the last Parliament he would have appreciated how much concern there was that this matter was considered in isolation.

Mr. Brewis

Why did not the right hon. Gentleman publish this plan in the same form as the last Government under the last Secretary of State for Scotland published the surveys?

Mr. Ross

This is exactly the point. The hon. Member will recollect that they were not plans, and if he reads them he will find that the word "plan" does not appear in them. They were a programme for public building.

Sir W. Anstruther-Gray

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that his reply will cause disappointment, because the people in the area are most anxious to know all the information as soon as it comes to hand?

Mr. Ross

I assure the right hon. Gentleman that as soon as we set out to do the job we did what we set out to do, which was to draw up a plan for Scotland in which there were plans for various areas. This will be published. This is what the people of Scotland want. They have had plenty of surveys on which no plans have been based. What we want are plans on which future action will be based.

Mr. Noble

Would not the right hon. Gentleman agree that whether or not he is publishing plans exactly as they are received is comparatively irrelevant and that the people of Scotland will not tolerate a delay of perhaps several years while the economic people are discussing how to deal with the plans? Is he aware that what the people of Scotland want, at least in the early days, is a clear analysis of the problem, as was given in the White Paper last year?

Mr. Ross

This is what we shall have—a proper analysis of the problem for the whole of Scotland and the action that will come out of it. [An HON. MEMBER: "When?"] The hon. Member knows that after 13 years of Tory Government there is not a single action that can be taken there, because the Local Employment Act which could help does not apply to the question of the depopulation of the Borders and his party did nothing about it.

Mr. Brewis

In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the reply, I beg to give notice that I shall raise the matter on the Adjournment at the earliest opportunity?