HC Deb 03 May 1978 vol 949 cc396-404

Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr. Snape.]

11.15 p.m.

Mr. Ian MacCormick (Argyll)

When I originally hoped to have a debate on the electricity supply on the Isle of Colonsay, I could not have anticipated the events of yesterday—chiefly the fact that the SNP candidate who will represent Colonsay on the Strathclyde Regional Council was successful in defeating the Conservatives and putting the Labour Party into a poor third place.

Lest it be said that I am being unfair to the Government, I should like to pay a tribute to the forebears of the present holders of ministerial office. The Hydro-Electric Development (Scotland) Act 1943 was the brainchild of the late Tom Jackson, M.P., and was supposed to take electricity to every part of the Highlands and to every small village and island. I greatly support that Act, which was one of the fine things that the Labour Party of those days decided to do.

There is a second thing that I admire the Labour Party for doing, namely, for creating the Highlands and Islands Development Board in more recent times. It is significant that between them the Hydro-Electric Board and the Highlands and Islands Development Board, with the valuable assistance of the British Army, set up a scheme to give the people of the Isle of Colonsay some sort of electricity supply. It is not a perfect electricity supply. For most people it is available for only 12 hours a day, but it provides one of the staffs of life to the people there.

As the Member for the constituency with most islands in it, certainly on the western side of the country, I wonder how one compares one island with another. On Tiree all the electricity consumed is produced on the island by a diesel-powered station. Clearly there is no way in which the people of Tiree are being supplied with electricity at what we would call an economic rate, but the Hydro-Electric Board has made plain that the people of Tiree, Islay, Mull and all the other islands in my constituency where all or part of the electricity is generated by diesel power on the islands will pay comparable tariffs to those paid by those of us on the mainland who are more fortunate.

I feel strongly that one of the things that should inspire any Government with any feeling for small communities is the determination to decide to create conditions on islands such as Colonsay so that people can live there and young people can be encouraged to stay.

For 10 years I was a schoolmaster at Oban High School and I taught many of the children from Colonsay. I felt sad that the more we taught those children, the more likely it was that they would leave and make their living elsewhere. I remain convinced that, if it had been more easy for them to make their living on Colonsay and if conditions there had been more easily balanced with those elsewhere, it would have been easier for them to decide to stay where they had been brought up and where they belonged.

If I may touch the Minister of State at all on any raw mark, I should ask: would not provision of the sum which would be necessary to equalise Colonsay's charges which are four times the amount that I pay in the town of Oban for my electricity, be a tremendous step in the right direction for the young and, indeed, the old people of Colonsay?

The Minister of State must be well aware that in communities such as Colonsay—this is mirrored elsewhere throughout the Western Isles—one of the hardships that people have to face is that they are living in ageing communities. It is all very well to thank the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board, the Highlands and Islands Development Board and the Army for providing a scheme. But is it enough to thank them? Is it not more to the point to look carefully into how these people will pay the tariffs which are now charged? As I have said, the tariffs charged on the island of Colonsay are by and large four times greater than those charged on the mainland. They are four times the tariffs charged on the islands of Tiree, Mull and Islay, all of which have similar arrangements for the generation of electricity.

I know that the people of Colonsay are highly subsidised in other ways. For example, I know that, through the transport system, the MacBrayne Company, which runs the steamer to Colonsay, if asked to charge a reasonable or economic fare, would have to ask £120 for every person who travelled to Colonsay. That means local people as well as any tourists who might care to visit the island.

If, on the one hand, we are prepared to supply that kind of subsidy to the people who live there and to those who visit the island, ought we not also, in view of the relatively paltry sums involved, to think of making up the difference between what the Minister of State, myself and everyone else, even in Argyll, pays and what the people of the island of Colonsay pay? After all, only 50 households are involved—about 100 people—and that would not break the nation's purse.

11.23 p.m.

The Minister of State, Scottish Office (Mr. Gregor MacKenzie)

I do not want to begin my speech tonight by making a grudging comment on the opening remarks made by the hon. Member for Argyll (Mr. MacCormick). Far be it from me to do so, since obviously on a day such as today I am possessed of the spirit of Christian charity, enthusiasm or whatever one might call it. I am delighted if the hon. Gentleman is pleased with his little game in the Strathclyde Region. I note only that there are now more Members on the Scottish National Party Bench in this House—all three of them—than will sit in the Strathclyde Regional Council.

But that is not the purpose of the debate. It is to discuss the hon. Gentleman's proposition that the Hydro Board should in some way subsidise the people who live on Colonsay. I think that the hon. Gentleman put the points fairly, but if I go over some of them again I hope that he will excuse me as I want to get them on the record.

The hon. Gentleman said that many who live on the mainland of Scotland take for granted the supply of electricity which has always been available to us. I am conscious that it is not available on Colonsay. But the Colonsay Community Electricity Association is to be congratulated on the steps which it has taken, albeit with a considerable range of assistance from public bodies—I shall come to them later—to create a generating and distribution system for the island.

There is one thing that I want to make crystal clear in this Adjournment debate. I think that the House knows exactly the extent of my personal responsibility and that of the Secretary of State in this matter.

As the hon. Member knows, responsibility for the supply of electricity in the Highlands and Islands rests fairly and squarely with the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board. The choice of areas which can be given a supply of electricity and the determination of priorities for connecting areas which have no public supply are matters for the Board. This is a management matter and it would not be appropriate for me to intervene. The hon. Member wrote to the Board on 26th April. That was only a few days ago. He should wait until the chairman of the Board and his colleagues decide what to do.

It might be helpful if I summarise the difficulties. I am grateful for the kindly references that the hon. Member made to the Board. Since the vesting date in 1948, the Hydro Board has provided a supply to an additional 330,000 customers. The total of 520,000 now connected represents 98.5 per cent. of potential consumers in the Board's district, and of this total some 115,000 consumers who cannot be provided with a supply economically have been connected in rural areas at a capital cost of about £27 million and a continuing annual loss.

The remaining potential consumers are mostly in areas where access is difficult and the costs of connection are extremely high. It is the Board's intention to provide most of these potential consumers with a mains supply as quickly as possible, having regard to the constraints involved. To this end, the Board has embarked on a five-year rural development programme by the end of which, in 1982, a further 1,400 consumers will have been connected at a cost of nearly £6 million. By that date, 99 per cent. of potential consumers will have been connected to a mains supply. The magnitude of this achievement is brought into perspective when one takes into account the fact that the Board's district covers about one-quarter of the land area of the United Kingdom but has only some 2 per cent. of its population. That is to the Board's credit.

Mr. MacCormick

Can the Minister confirm that the 99 per cent. does not include the people of Colonsay?

Mr. MacKenzie

That is right, but I have dealt already with the problem. I shall return to it. I have stressed my responsibility. All that I am doing is setting the proper scene for an Adjournment debate.

Before the Colonsay Community Electricity Association was established, there were four small local electricity schemes on the island. In 1975, Highlands and Islands Development Board staff examined the electricity supply situation as a whole on Colonsay and concluded, following discussions with the Hydro Board, that a community generating and distribution scheme would be a practical and sensible replacement for the four existing schemes. The Highlands Board then organised a series of public meetings on Colonsay at which the community indicated its support for the idea of a locally managed electrification scheme.

The possible unit costs of the electricity supply were discussed at many of these meetings on the island and it was always stressed that, while units costs of 7p or 8p were being talked about, those figures were provisional and, with several other considerations, it could not be assumed that the unit costs would in practice be of that level. I have been assured by the Highlands Board that these considerations were understood and accepted by the hon. Member's constituents.

The hon. Member would wish to give credit to the HIDB for deciding to provide considerable financial assistance for the construction of the scheme. He said that it was churlish not to provide more support for the scheme. It is worth noting, however, that by the beginning of 1977 a scheme involving capital expenditure of £22,000 had been decided upon. The Highlands Board offered a grant of £12,500 towards the construction of the scheme. Strathclyde Regional Council, which is a good authority which looks after the interests of the people of Strathclyde well and will do so even better in future, provided £5,000. The Argyll and Bute District Council provided £2,500.

The Hydro Board itself contributed some £4,250 through the Highlands Board, together with technical assistance and help with the procurement of materials. The Hydro Board made it clear, however, that this contribution implied no responsibility on its part for the establishment and maintenance of the scheme and that no further financial assistance would be made available. The Colonsay Community Electricity Association was required to provide £1,000 towards the capital cost of the scheme, to be raised by means of a levy on subscribers.

The hon. Member referred to the fact that we are all very grateful to the Army for arranging a training exercise on Colonsay in 1977, during which most of the work involved in installing equipment for the generating station and overhauling the distribution system was carried out. The HIDB and the local association would, like the hon. Member and myself, wish to express, I think, their very genuine appreciation to the soldiers who carried out that work.

Actual expenditure involved turned out to be considerably in excess of the sums contributed. The HIDB therefore decided, in March of this year, to increase its contribution to the association by some £12,000 to cover these increased costs.

I mention these various sums because I think it important to record that, far from being complacent about small communities such as Colonsay, the HIDB, the regional council, the district authority and the Hydro Board have made very substantial contributions to the capital costs involved.

I know, as the hon. Member has said, that the price of electricity produced is high. The cost is about 11p per unit as compared with the 2p or 3p which we pay on the mainland. But, although costs are high, the community electricity scheme represents a bargain for the people of the island in respect of the cost of connection. I have already mentioned the contribution to the capital cost made by the community, which amounted to about £1,000. On average, that represents about £20 per consumer. By contrast, the current standard charge for new connections to the public supply applied throughout the Hydro Board's district amounts to about £90, which is a very much higher connection charge than may be required from individual consumers in remote parts of the mainland.

The Highlands Board and all the other public bodies involved have ensured that the capital costs of installing the local system have not placed a burden on the Colonsay community. As I said earlier, I think that the various organisations concerned have been very generous to the people who live there. The hon. Member has mentioned that there are about 50 possible consumers and that there is a population of about 100. I do not deny that they have a right to these things, but I am bound to say that I think that the various authorities have been very helpful to the people of Colonsay.

Whilst I should like to give a more positive response, I can only say in conclusion that which I said at the beginning of my comments. We have a Hydro-Electric Board. It has certain responsibilities. It is no part of my duty and obligation as a Minister of the Crown to tell it how to do its job. I think that it would be in the best interests of all concerned if the hon. Member awaited the reply to the letter that he wrote on 26th April to the chairman of the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board.

Question put and agreed to.

Adjourned accordingly at twenty-six minutes to Twelve o'clock.