§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has considered an application for grant aid for a team of Scottish anglers to take part in an international event in South Africa; what was the date on which he received such an application; if he was advised upon the sporting merits of this application by the Scottish Sports Council and the Sports Council of Great Britain; what was the nature of that advice; and what decision he has reached.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellThe President of the Scottish Federation of Sea Anglers wrote to my Department on 15th September, 1970 asking whether a grant could be made towards the fare of a team to represent Scotland at a tournament to be held at Durban. In accordance with normal practice with applications for grants for international events this application was referred to the Sports Council for its advice. (Applications for international grant are not normally referred to the Sports Council for Scotland.) The Sports Council recommended that as far as sports considerations were concerned the standing of the event would justify the offer of a grant. Having considered the merits of the particular case against the background of present policy, however, I decided that grant should not be offered and informed the Federation of my decision on 10th February.