§ Mr. Malcolm MacMillanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many dwelling houses in each of the islands of the Outer Hebrides are still without a piped water supply; and what percentage this represents of the total number of dwelling houses in this area.
§ Mr. MaclayI am informed that the numbers of houses without a public water supply on the principal islands are, according to the latest information available, as follows:
Barra 191 Eriskay 85 South Uist 360 Benbecula 170 North Uist (including Grimsay) 378 Bernera 95 Scalpay 105 Harris 480 Lewis (excluding Stornoway) 2,739 These represent 58 per cent. of the dwelling houses in the area but if all who could do so connected to public supplies, the percentage would be 50. When the programmes of work at present being undertaken by Inverness and Ross and Cromarty County Councils are completed, a substantial reduction in the figures given above will have been made.
§ Mr. Malcolm MacMillanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has yet received from Inverness County Council the revised scheme, requested by him, for the proposed causeway at Baleshare, Isle of North Uist; and what decision he has reached.
§ Mr. MaclayThe revised proposals have now been received from the County Council and are being studied.
§ Mr. Malcolm MacMillanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland, in view of Inverness County Council's decision to spend an additional £82,000 on water supply schemes during the current year, whether he will again consult with them with a view to assisting them financially in providing water supply for the Locheport, Isle of North Uist, community while contractors, plant and skilled labour are still on the island.
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§ Mr. MaclayI have recently been able to allow Inverness County Council to increase their annual programme of water supply work and I understand that in view of this they have now decided in principle to proceed with a water supply scheme for the Locheport area in connection with the North Uist (South-West) Scheme.
The question of grant under the Rural Water Supplies and Sewerage Acts will be considered on receipt of details of the scheme proposed.
§ Mr. Malcolm MacMillanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what proposals he has received from the County Councils of Ross and Cromarty and of Inverness for street lighting and garbage collection in the villages of the Western Isles; and what assistance he has offered towards the cost of such schemes.
§ Mr. MaclayI have not received any proposals from either County Council for either street lighting or refuse collection in the villages of the Western Isles.
§ Mr. Malcolm MacMillanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is aware of the danger to the public health being created in parts of the Western Isles as a result of the greatly increased volume and use of piped water without corresponding public sewerage disposal provision; and what measures are being considered by his Department on the proposals of the two county councils concerned to provide adequate sewerage.
§ Mr. MaclaySo far as I am aware, there is no immediate danger to the public health, although I understand that in certain areas, especially in Lewis, conditions are not satisfactory. Up to now proposals have been submitted to me for only two small schemes which are not expected to start for some time yet.
§ Mr. Malcolm MacMillanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, in view of the special difficulties of travel in the Western Isles, the considerable expense of island omnibus travel and the lack of omnibus services in some areas, he will take steps, under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1949, to increase the number of polling stations and enable the Hebridean 312W electors to vote without undue hardship and expense.
§ Mr. MaclayThe designation of polling places is primarily a matter for the Sheriff as Returning Officer, but any interested local authority or thirty or more electors if dissatisfied may make representations to me. None have done so in the Western Isles constituency since 1957, when, following such representations, the Returning Officer designated a new polling place.
§ Mr. Malcolm MacMillanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will take steps to encourage and to assist financially the local authorities concerned, in setting up a greatly increased number of accurate and intelligible road signposts in the Western Isles in order to simplify tourist travel and help the tourist industry in the area.
§ Mr. MaclayThe erection of road signs is a matter for the highway authority concerned and, so far as classified roads are concerned, the expenditure involved is eligible for grant at the rate appropriate to the classification of the road.
I am sending a copy of the hon. Member's Question and of my reply to the county councils concerned. They are, I am sure, anxious to help the tourist industry in the Western Isles.
§ Mr. Malcolm MacMillanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether full helicopter ambulance services are now available under the National Health Service in Scotland to patients requiring them in the islands of Eriskay, Berneray, Scalpay, Grimsay and Scarp, and to patients in peninsular communities who have to travel by sea transport, often unsuitable for ambulance cases.
§ Mr. MaclayIn cases of critical emergency, patients from these islands and remote parts of the mainland may be removed by Services helicopter where no other suitable form of transport is available.
§ Mr. Malcolm MacMillanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, in view of heavy local unemployment, the easing of restrictions upon capital expenditure and the importance of better roads and transport to all economic development in the Western Isles, he will now consult with Inverness County 313W Council with a view to completing the major reconstruction scheme for the remainder of the Rodel-Tarbert road, in the Isle of Harris, under the crofter counties programme which began nearly a quarter of a century ago.
§ Mr. MaclayI have already discussed this with Inverness County Council and have arranged for them to prepare a scheme costing about £100,000, which I will consider for authorisation next year, as a star: to the reconstruction of the remainder of this road.
§ Mr. Malcolm MacMillanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what scheme he has under consideration for approval for providing supplies of electricity to the Isle of Barra and to North Uist; and on what date it is scheduled for completion.
§ Mr. MaclayNo application is at present before me. The order in which the North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board undertake particular schemes is entirely a matter for them: but the Board inform me that they regret they do not meantime have the necessary resources to make a start on the electrification of Barra and North Uist.
§ Mr. Malcolm MacMillanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, in view of the easing of restriction upon capital expenditure, he will now offer Inverness County Council his assistance to speed up and expand its water supply programme in Barra, the Uists and Harris, and the County Council of Ross and Cromarty, to proceed more quickly with the current schemes and in starting other water supply schemes in the Isle of Lewis.
§ Mr. MaclayI have recently been able to authorise Inverness County Council to speed up their current programme of water supply schemes which includes work in North and South Uist and they are free at present to carry out as much work as they can reasonably undertake. The selection of schemes in the county programme and the order in which they are carried out is, of course, a matter for the Council themselves.
The Ross and Cromarty County Council's water supply programme for 1959, which, I understand, represents as much work as the Council wish to undertake in that year, has just been approved. The programme includes work in Lewis.