asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what consultations he has had with the local authorities concerned regarding the designation of the Burgh of Irvine and the surrounding districts as a growth area.

This is one of the growth areas identified in the white paper on Central Scotland. The physical possibilities are now being studied in detail with the local authorities to provide the basis for settling what the right administrative framework for development will be.

Can the hon. Gentleman say whether the area has been actually surveyed by officials of his Department and whether a development plan has been agreed upon? If so, did his Department agree to the cutting out of all passenger train facilities from the direct south connection point of Kilmarnock, which leaves the new area bereft of any passenger train facilities directly with the South and London? May I further ask him, in connection with the overspill coming into Irvine and the designation of Irvine as a growth point, whether he has agreed to give Ayr County Council additional allowances for capital expenditure for the provision of schools, or has it to meet this from its already cut-down programme, about which there has been so much protest?

As I indicated, the question is still being studied. A technical study is being carried out into all the factors which need to be considered in this matter. I cannot tell the hon. Gentleman whether a survey has been carried out of the whole area, but I can inform him that one of the important matters which still needs to be known is the extent of possible subsidence in the area. As regards his inquiry about additional allowances for the Ayr County Council, that again would be something to be considered in the future as a result of this study.