§ Mr. John Smithasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will authorise the Scottish Education Department to make a travelling grant to the Scottish Netball Association to enable it to attend the World Netball Tournament in Jamaica later this month on a scale comparable to grants given by the Government to netball teams from England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellNo. In making grants to governing bodies for international events, I feel bound to take account of their efforts to develop their sport at home. Since the Scottish Net-ball Association was assisted to attend the previous World Tournament in Australia in 1967, there has been very little development of netball in Scotland, despite the annual grant which it receives towards the costs of administration and coaching. On the advice of the International Committee of the Sports Council and of the Sports Council for Scotland, I have, therefore, decided that I would not be justified in assisting it for the 1970 World Tournament.