§ 12. Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, as a means of alleviating unemployment, he will allocate additional and immediate financial resources to regional hospital boards for minor works programmes.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellThe current special works programme includes £5 million for additional Health Service works in Scotland, of which £3.8 million has been allocated to regional hospital boards.
§ Mr. HamiltonWill the right hon. Gentleman say what is the difference between the requests made by the regional hospital boards and the allocation? Has an estimate been made of the number of building trade workers for whom those minor works will provide jobs?
§ Mr. CampbellI cannot without notice give the hon. Gentleman a precise answer to the first part of his question. In general, the major part of the applications which have come in for work have been accepted and have become part of the special programme. It is almost impossible to make an estimate, certainly a precise one, of the number of people who will either retain jobs or get extra work.