asked the Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development if he will make a statement on the result of his request to firms in North-East Scotland to complete a census of production to be completed and returned by 31st March; and how such production in those areas compares with similar production in each of the preceding 10 years.

It will be several months before enough 1963 census of production returns are received for results to be compiled. Full censuses of this kind are taken only once in five years, and separate figures for regions like North-East Scotland are not normally extracted. Employment figures show, in general, little change over the last 10 years.

How do the Government propose to use the figures collected in this way? Is it a last-minute attempt to solve the problems of industrial unemployment in Scotland, after 12 years of failure?

No, Sir. The first census was taken in 1907.

May I ask my right hon. Friend to what extent he considers that trade in the North-East will be damaged by the Socialist-controlled Town Council of Aberdeen's boycott of south African products?

It is a point to which my hon. Friend has drawn public attention.