§ Mr. Gordon Campbellasked the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs why his Departmental publication, Progress Report, deals with Scotland as a region.
Mr. Alan WilliamsWhile my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Scotland, exercises direct responsibility for economic planning in Scotland, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs has responsibility for the co-ordination of national and regional economic planning for the United Kingdom as a whole. In the widely distributed D.E.A. Progress Report, we include comments on progress and developments in each of the component parts of the United Kingdom.148W The purpose of dealing with Scotland, as well as with Wales, Northern Ireland and the English regions, is to spread information about Scotland more widely in order to stimulate even greater interest in the opportunities which exist there.
This continuous attention to Scotland in the Progress Report is in marked contrast to the attitude shown in the publication which it succeeded, the Bulletin for Industry, which did not carry one article on Scotland between October, 1951, and its final issue in 1964.