§ 90 and 91. Mr. W. Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he is aware of the disquiet caused by recent decisions to refuse permission to local authorities to contribute to the Auchengeich Mining Disaster Fund; and whether he will reconsider those decisions;
31W(2) to how many local authorities he has refused to grant permission to donate to the Auchengeich Colliery Disaster Fund; what are his reasons for such refusal; and whether there are any precedents for such action.
§ Mr. MaclayI received 37 applications for approval to contributions: six from county councils, three from cities, 21 from burghs, and seven from district councils. Of these five from counties, two from cities and 17 from burghs have had to be refused: the applications from district councils had all to be refused because section 339 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1947 (the only enactment under which such contributions can be approved) does not apply to district councils. The remaining applications have been granted.
With regard to the hon. Member's other points, I do not think that I can usefully add to what was said in the debate on the Adjournment on 2nd November.