§ Mr. MaclennanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his answer of 28 March 2000,Official Report, column 110W, on assisted areas, if he will indicate in respect of the Inverness travel-to-work area what comparators he has used which indicate that it is an area of extremely low population density leading to additional costs in the provision of goods and services. [117763]
§ Dr. Reid[holding answer 5 April 2000]: I have written to the right hon. Member and to other hon. Members with details of the Government's revised proposals for the Assisted Areas map. These proposals are also the subject of wider consultation. In formulating our revised proposals, the Government have taken account of the European Commission's guidelines, which indicate that NUTS 3 areas can be regarded as sparsely populated if they have a population density less than 12.5 persons per square kilometre.