§ Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what action he is taking to promote the development of food processing in Scotland using Scottish agricultural produce.
§ Mr. RossIn the interests of both industrial diversification and the future well-being of agriculture, I am anxious to encourage more processing in Scotland of Scottish grown produce.
The National Farmers Union of Scotland and my Department are working together to ensure that processors have the information they need about what Scotland has to offer. They will also work closely with the Board of Trade. This will be a continuing exercise, and a start is being made with potato and vegetable processing.