HC Deb 12 July 1972 vol 840 cc1566-7
15. Mr. Strang

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide funds for the establishment of an independent Scottish Economic Institute to investigate problems of the Scottish economy, with a status comparable to that of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

Mr. Gordon Campbell

The Scottish Office already employs 18 economists; and close contact is maintained with research undertaken in the economics departments of Scottish Universities.

Mr. Strang

While I acknowledge the valuable work done by both the Scottish Office and the Scottish Council, may I ask whether the right hon. Gentleman agrees that there is a strong case for an independent institute in Scotland which could study in depth important aspects of the Scottish economy? Had such an institute been in existence to study in depth the implications of the oil find, the reaction of the Government and British industry might well have been more successful.

Mr. Campbell

On the hon. Gentleman's last point, the difficulty has been that until very recently nobody knew whether there would be any oil finds. As has already been pointed out, when the Gaskin Report was published three years ago it did not even refer to oil because it had not then appeared on the scene. That is why we must now await even further exploration, which I am sure will provide us with interesting discoveries. As to economic advice, I have the advantage of the panel of economic consultants from the universities which advises the Scottish Office.

Mr. Bruce-Gardyne

Will my right hon. Friend resist the proposal and not touch it with a barge pole? Is he aware that the National Institute has an enviable reputation for the falsity of its forecasts and that with the gratuitous advice the Scottish Office receives from time to time from bodies like the Scottish Council and the STUC there is no need for further sources of dubious counsel?

Mr. Campbell

I do not wish to enter the lists with my hon. Friend on these points, but I think that the suggestion was put forward as a serious suggestion and I accept it as such. However, I differ with the hon. Member for Edinburgh, East (Mr. Strang) about the question of oil because I do not think that the sort of body he suggests could give us any more help than those who are very much engaged in dealing with this problem.

Mr. Douglas

Will the right hon. Gentleman concede that such a body might come to the conclusion that we would have to continue some form of regionally differentiated REP subsidy beyond 1974?

Mr. Campbell

That is a separate question. The hon. Gentleman knows the Government's position on this matter. REP is due to be phased out after September, 1974.

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