§ Mr. Dewarasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of divorce actions in the latest convenient period would be covered by the proposals made by Lord Cowie's committee's report in that the grounds were two or five years' separation, there were no children under 16 years of age and no financial conclusions by either party.
§ Mr. Allan StewartI regret that precise statistics are not available. However, Lord Cowie's committee, on the basis of figures covering 1977 to mid-1979, suggested that up to 25 per cent. of divorce actions could be covered by its proposals. Subsequently the management services unit of the Scottish Office reviewed methods of implementing that committee's proposals and estimated from the figures available that the proposals would cover 17 to 25 per cent. of all cases.