§ 34. Mr. Bruce-Gardyneasked the President of the Board of Trade what was the number and value of applications for investment grants received from firms in Scotland to the latest convenient date.
§ Mr. Darling1,177 applications to the value of £19,079,686 had been received by 14th April, 1967.
§ Mr. Bruce-GardyneCan the right hon. Gentleman confirm that this rate falls far below Government expectations? Is this a commentary on the failure of the system of investment grants, or a sign of the collapse of manufacturing investment in Scotland, or both?
§ Mr. DarlingNo. The first assumption is incorrect. We had assumed that when the scheme got into full swing we would have in Scotland 2,000 to 3,000 claims each quarter. It is perhaps too early to come to any definite conclusion about whether the estimate will be reached, but it is certainly going in the direction we anticipated. I certainly do not agree with any of the observations in the second part of the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question.