HC Deb 27 June 1973 vol 858 cc1526-7
19. Mr. Doig

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is satisfied with the number of Civil Service jobs recommended for Scotland in the Hardman Report.

Mr. Gordon Campbell

The Hardman Report has been submitted to the Government and published as a basis for discussion. It raises a number of complex issues which the Government are now studying.

Mr. Doig

Is not the Secretary of State aware that the people of Scotland are extremely disappointed at the small number of jobs recommended in the report for Scotland? Does he not realise that part of the reason for this small number of jobs in an area of high unemployment is due to the fact that the Government have recommended for investigation only one site in the whole of Scotland? Did not this very fact contribute to the small number of jobs we were allocated?

Mr. Campbell

I am well aware of the disappointment in Scotland at the report of Sir Henry Hardman, which contains his own views. I would have been surprised if there had not been disappointment about his recommendations, but I do not think that the fact that the Glasgow area was indicated as a suitable location was a factor in the consideration of this matter. It is clear that there are other areas in Scotland which also are very suitable for office accommodation.

Mr. Bruce-Gardyne

Will my right hon. Friend confirm my impression that the period of greatest relative prosperity in Scottish history—relative to the prosperity of other parts of the United Kingdom—was a period in which the only civil servant in Scotland was the private secretary to the Lord Advocate?

Mr. Campbell

I would say that that is a matter of judgment and opinion.

Mr. Ross

Does the right hon. Gentleman appreciate that in many ways the Hardman Report was insulting as well as disappointing? Will he take a hard look at the practicalities of the situation in respect of the dispersal of Ministry of Defence establishments involving the livelihood of 11,000 people? It is said that the most obvious dispersal areas are along the westerly axis from London. Bearing in mind the Government statement that all previous dispersal operations could have happened elsewhere, is it not surprising that the dispersal seldom gets beyond Carlisle? Will the right hon. Gentleman press for a change of attitude in this respect?

Mr. Campbell

We must remember that this was the report of one person, Sir Henry Hardman, who was expressing his own views. I shall ensure that the factors relating to Scotland are taken fully into account in the Government's consideration of the report.