HC Deb 07 February 1979 vol 962 cc382-3
11. Mr. Gray

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when he intends next to meet the chairman of the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board.

Mr. Millan

I am to meet the chairman of the Board later today.

Mr. Gray

Will the Secretary of State draw the attention of the chairman to the Board's abysmal record in employment in Ross and Cromarty? Will he suggest to the chairman that, at the very least, he should reopen the area office at Dingwall, and that, at best, he should move the whole of the headquarters of the board to Dingwall, thus escaping the domination of the central belt, from which the Highlands have suffered for so long?

Mr. Millan

I have heard that before. I wish I could say that I had invited the chairman here to listen to that. The question of area offices is a long-standing grievance in certain parts of the area. I have no doubt that the chairman will take note of what the hon. Gentleman has said. Whether he will act on it is a matter for him.

Mr. Donald Stewart

Will the right hon. Gentleman ask the chairman to explain why an EEC grant, for the stated purpose of extending electricity supplies in the Western Isles, will not make the slightest difference to the rate of the Board's programme?

Mr. Millan

I should want notice of that question, but I doubt whether it would make no difference at all.

Mr. Canavan

Is my right hon. Friend aware of the great concern throughout Scotland over the appointment of the former Mr. John Smith, first as a member of the House of Lords, secondly as Minister of State at the Scottish Office and now as chairman of the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board? Does he agree that it is about time that such public patronage appointments were made accountable to Parliament, as proposed in my Private Member's Bill during the last Session?

Mr. Milian

I have scored my hon. Friend off my list now. My information is that the appointment was very well received.

Mr. Grimond

I have no wish to defend the right hon. Gentleman against his hon. Friend, but will he take notice of the important point that this organisation should have its headquarters in the Highlands? I am not a Dingwall nationalist. I suggest that Kirkwall would be a good place for the headquarters. In any event, it should be within the Highland area. To have it in Edinburgh is ridiculous.

Mr. Milian

That is a matter for the Board. I gather that the number of people employed at the Edinburgh headquarters is limited in comparison with the total number of the Board's employees. There is some advantage in having the Board's head office in Edinburgh because the area covered by the Board is not just the Highlands. It extends to a good deal more of Scotland. It is a matter for the Board where its headquarters are situated.