§ Q120. Mr. Harry EwingTo ask the Prime Minister if the speech on Government Department dispersal by the Secretary of State for Scotland at the Conservative party conference represents Government policy.
§ Mr. WakehamI have been asked to reply.
The lecture delivered by the Secretary of State for Scotland was an assessment of the desirability of relocation of Government Departments out of London. He also referred to the increasing trend for businesses to relocate their enterprises out of the south-east. Successive Governments have already successfully relocated a major part of the ODA to East Kilbride, the Royal Mint to Wales, the Forestry Commission to Edinburgh, and part of the DSS to Newcastle.