asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will refrain from making any grant from the Scottish Education Fund to the Edinburgh College of Art until such time as he is assured that the board of management of the said college is prepared to negotiate on salary matters and conditions of service with the Educational Institute of Scotland in whose hands the staff of the college have unanimously placed the negotiations on all matters concerning their professional status as teachers.

No, Sir. I am in communication with the board of management of the College about this matter, and I shall take steps to ensure that representations made on behalf of the staff are considered before I approve of any proposals from the board of management in regard to salaries or conditions of service of members of the staff.

While thanking my right hon. Friend for the second part of the answer, may I ask him, in regard to the first part, if that implies that a grant-aided institution can ignore, while receiving public money, the existence of national salary scales?

I think my hon. Friend will recognise that these scales have just been settled. I am in touch with all those central bodies with regard to the other proposals, and no doubt these will come along in due course.