Mr. Edward M. Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what effect the policy of curbing capital spending will have on the public investment programme in Scotland.
§ Mr. RossAs announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 8th February, the Government's policy of containing public investment, introduced on 27th July last year, is being continued, but it will now be possible for investment programmes to be adapted more flexibly.
As housing, schools, hospitals and projects in development districts are not affected the policy has had relatively little effect upon public investment in Scotland. The investment figures in the White Paper "The Scottish Economy 1965 to 1970" (Cmnd. 2864) took account of that effect.