Mr. Wm, Rossasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the survey into the less favoured areas in Scotland has yet been completed; and when he expects to publish the results.
§ Mr. YoungerThe survey work in Scotland is nearly completed, but the results will have to be correlated with those for the other parts of the United Kingdom and supporting economic and demographic data assembled and tested against the criteria in the less-favoured area directive. My right hon. Friends and I expect to decide before the end of the year whether a case should be put to the European Commission for an extension of the United Kingdom less-favoured areas.