§ Mr. SillarsTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he or any agency responsible to him has commissioned a business plan for an independent Scottish steel industry.
§ Mr. SillarsTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has formally asked British Steel if it is prepared to sell its Scottish assets to enable them to form the basis of an independent Scottish steel industry.
§ Mr. LangThe chairman of British Steel has assured my right hon. and learned Friend and me that if the company should wish at some stage to close its steelmaking facilities at Ravenscraig, it would consider on a commercial basis, any wholly private sector offer for those facilities as an alternative to closure.
Provision for under 5s in Scotland (pupils or places) 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 Borders 1,728 1,416 1,321 1,422 1,952 2,020 2,077 2,130 2,239 2,431 2,282 Central 4,182 4,142 4,383 4,647 4,808 5,055 5,089 5,321 5,628 6,008 6,373 Dumfries and Galloway 1,492 1,548 1,571 1,673 1,951 2,060 2,265 2,127 2,278 2,428 2,695 Fife 6,676 5,804 5,817 5,729 7,214 6,627 7,073 7,231 7,499 7,921 8,370 Grampian 7,955 7,748 7,981 8,211 8,134 8,230 8,741 8,490 8,764 8,915 9,617 Highland 2,923 3,060 3,230 3,426 3,729 3,339 3,572 4,140 4,010 4,229 4,727 Lothian 14,665 13,727 14,152 14,018 13,859 14,524 15,356 14,947 16,109 16,406 18,217 Strathclyde 36,278 34,646 36,925 35,662 37,915 39,881 40,113 39,343 40,301 44,767 41,557 Tayside 5,998 6,269 5,920 5,620 6,145 6,232 6,244 5,760 6,486 6,858 7,636 Orkney 472 558 543 506 548 553 643 522 700 729 811 Shetland 518 622 630 671 677 578 575 649 665 699 708 Western Isles 431 498 538 479 589 679 1,274 1,587 1,680 1,503 968 Scotland 83,318 80,040 83,643 82,056 86,821 89,748 93,022 92,247 96,359 102,894 103,961