§ 76. Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will publish in HANSARD as detailed a list as may be readily available of national disasters that have occurred in Scotland for the latest convenient period of time, a brief description of what these were, the estimated costs, the costs of rectification and/or compensation; and to what extent local councils and local authorities bore the costs of such disasters.
§ Dr. Dickson MabonThe only national disaster in recent years was the
106W hurricane of 14th–15th January, 1968, in Central Scotland which caused extensive damage to houses, industry, public buildings, including schools and hospitals, and to agriculture and forestry. I have no reliable figure for the total cost of the damage, because much of it was repaired under normal insurance arrangements. The information on expenditure by the Government and by local authorities is as follows:
1967–68 Average net assets Net income Net income as a percentage of assets Fixed investment in the U.K. Exchequer loans Exchequer loans as a percentage affixed investment Total employees at March, 1968 £m. £m. Per cent. £m. £m. Per cent. '000s North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board 236 14.3 5.4 7.7 3.3 42.9 4 South of Scotland Electricity Board 348 19.4 5.6 63.7 40.2 63.1 16
£ million Estimated Government expenditure: Direct expenditure and grants to local authorities etc. 5.5 Loans 3.0 Estimated local authority expenditure 1.9