9. Earl of Dalkeithasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is satisfied that sufficient advantage is being taken of grants for the improvement of older houses to enable modernisation to outpace deterioration in such a way as to diminish the stock of substandard accommodation in Scotland: and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellThere has recently been an encouraging increase in the number of houses improved with grants. I am mounting a special campaign to encourage the improvement and rehabilitation of older houses, especially those below the tolerable standard.
Earl of DalkeithMy right hon. Friend knows, perhaps, that I have been pressing for some years for a major advertising campaign to let it be widely known that there are these excellent grants available. If he is embarking on such a campaign, may I congratulate him and wish him every success, for it needs to be done on a fairly wide scale?
§ Mr. CampbellA major publicity campaign is in preparation.
§ Mr. RossAs it is the declared opinion of the hon. Member for Edinburgh, North (Earl of Dalkeith) that anyone who receives a grant is liable to have the moral fibre of his being rotted, will the Secretary of State keep his hon. Friend away from any advertising or publicity campaign?
§ Mr. CampbellThat supplementary question was nearly two years too late.