asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many houses the Scottish Special Housing Association has under construction; and what further contracts have been awarded to it.

The Scottish Special Housing Association has 3,286 houses under construction. Tenders for a further 184 houses have been approved while authority in principle has been given to the Association to build a further 4,000 houses.

Are not these figures rather disappointing for the Association? Is it tendering to build any houses for the new town Development Corporation of Cumbernauld? If it is not building houses for the Development Corporation, can the hon. Gentleman say why not?

As the hon. Gentleman will have heard from my Answer, the numbers for which tenders have been approved are very small in proportion to the total numbers in the authorisation ahead. I assure him that most of the building is proposed for the growth areas, in which the new towns are situated. The Association has a potential overspill building commitment of about 6,000 houses, and it is also engaged in the provision of 4,900 houses, mainly on redevelopment sites in Glasgow.

Will the hon. Gentleman answer the last part of my supplementary question? Is the Association building any houses for the Development Corporation of Cumbernauld.

I could not answer that without notice.