HC Deb 26 January 1977 vol 924 cc653-4W
24. Mr. Viggers

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give his estimate of the benefit to the Scottish economy of natural gas recovered from southern sector of the North Sea.

Mr. Gregor MacKenzie

In 1975–76 total sales of gas by the British Gas Corporation in Scotland amounted to £71.4 million. Some 97 per cent. of all gas sold was derived from fields in the southern

DOCTORS, ADMINISTRATIVE AND CLERICAL STAFF EMPLOYED BY OR IN CONTRACT WITH HEALTH BOARDS AT 30TH SEPTEMBER 1975 PER THOUSAND OF POPULATION (WTE)
Doctors employed wholly or mainly on administrative duties* Administrative and Clerical Staff Doctors engaged wholly or mainly in Clinical duties or in the practice of community medicine
Argyll and Clyde 0.01 1.85 1.16
Ayrshire and Arran 0.01 1.17 0.96
Borders 0.01 1.21 0.99
Dumfries and Galloway 0.01 1.76 1.39
Fife 0.01 1.38 1.03
Forth Valley 0.01 1.73 1.13
Grampian 0.01 2.23 1.63
Greater Glasgow 0.01 3.05 2.07
Highland 0.02 2.21 1.63
Lanarkshire 0.01 1.40 0.90
Lothian 0.01 2.43 1.88
Orkney 0.06 1.07 1.15
Shetland 0.05 1.03 0.97
Tayside 0.01 2.83 1.79
Western Isles 0.03 1.28 1.16
Scotland (excluding Common Services Agency) 0.01 2.15 1.51
* Many doctors, notably those practising in the community medicine field, have administrative duties; but the figures relate only to those community medicine specialists employed by health boards whose duties are wholly or mainly of an administrative character, viz., chief administrative medical officers and district medical officers.
† The figures relate to all staff within the purview of the Administrative and Clerical Staffs Whitley Council. They do not include professionally qualified staff such as dentists, nurses and pharmacists who have administrative duties relative to their own disciplines.
‡ The figures relate to hospital medical staff, general medical practitioners, community medicine specialists (except CAMOs and DMOs) and other medical staff engaged in the practice of community medicine.

sector of the North Sea. The Scottish economy has undoubtedly benefited from the availability of this less expensive gas, but I have no means of estimating the extent of the benefit.