When I first learned that the hon. Member for Fife, West (Mr. W. Hamilton) wanted a debate on the future of Glenrothes I was a little surprised. Last Wednesday, as he pointed out, he asked a Question about Glenrothes in which he asked my right hon. Friend . .whether he will give an assurance that the future development of the town will not be retarded. In his reply my right hon. Friend said: There is thus no reason for expecting the pit closures to retard the development of the town."—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 29th November 1961, Vol. 650, c. 64–5.] That was a pretty definite answer and I cannot improve on the confidence which it has shown my right hon. Friend to possess in the future of the town. Our attitude is more than optimism—the word which the hon. Member for Fife, West used—it is confidence.

In the time that remains I will try to expand a little upon the reasons which have led us to take this confident view of the town's development. In doing so I hope I may remove any doubts or misunderstandings that may still exist about Glenrothes or its function as a general purpose new town.

The basic fact to get hold of, which may have become obscured, is that Glenrothes was never conceived of as being a purely mining town. Right from the beginning it was the Government's intention that the new town should have a varied industrial structure.

In Glenrothes the Government's aim has been to carry out on a small scale the policy of diversification of industry exemplified by the new developments at Bathgate, Ravenscraig and Linwood which have had a stimulating effect on the whole Scottish economy. It is perfectly true that at one time it was envisaged that in Glenrothes those engaged on mining work might amount to one person in every four or five of the total employed population. By 1959, however, it was clear, owing to the reorganisation of the coal industry in Fife, that there would be only a fairly small inward movement of miners into the new town from other parts of Scotland. The National Coal Board then stated that its total requirement for this purpose would not be more than about fifty houses per annum. Because of this decline—and it occurred two years ago—in the Coal Board's requirement, my right hon. Friend then wrote to the Chairman of the Development Corporation saying: I hope the new town will continue to make an increasingly important contribution to Glasgow's problems. He went on—and this is the really important part of the letter—to say: We are not contemplating that it should be necessary … to plan for any reduction in the ultimate scale of the housing and other developments which you have in mind. That was the position two years ago and it remains the position today.

My right hon. Friend is most anxious that it should be clearly understood that recent developments in the coal industry have made no difference to the planned future prospects of the town. Such change of emphasis as was necessary took place two years ago, and the course of events since 1959 has amply fulfilled the confidence my right hon. Friend then expressed in the town's growth potential.

It would, therefore, be a very great disservice, as the hon. Member himself recognised, not only to Glenrothes, but to the whole of Fife, if any suggestion were made that the new town was in danger of becoming a problem area because of pit closures. I hope that both the hon. Member for Fife, West and the hon. Member for Kirkcaldy Burghs (Mr. Gourlay) will do their best to combat any inaccurate and ill-informed rumours of this sort. Of course we realise that the stoppage of operations at Rothes pit must have come as a great blow to those engaged in the mining industry, but the effect on Glenrothes itself is slight. Only 300 of the men working at Rothes actually live in Glenrothes and I understand that the majority of those affected by the stoppage of coal cutting will be found work at other pits.

I entirely appreciate that it is not enough to provide these men with work and that what those who are concerned with the healthy development of the new town want to know is whether other jobs will be coming to Glenrothes which will compensate for the loss of the mining jobs. What they want to know is whether there will be a net increase in the employment potential in the new town which will make Glenrothes a thriving industrial area.

I am glad to be able to say that the picture of industrial development is encouraging and that prospects are even better today than they were a year ago. At the moment more than 200 jobs are in prospect from new industrial building and several hundred other jobs will result if a number of firms go ahead with projects which they are now actively contemplating.

Hon. Members will note that these projects alone, quite apart from any new incoming developments, will by themselves more than make good the loss due to the contraction in the coal mining industry. But that is not all. The Development Corporation has received eleven inquiries from firms interested in the newly serviced south industrial area. The advance factories have not only been approved, but are in course of construction and inquiries about them are already being made.

All this is most encouraging and it would not justify the listing of Glenrothes itself as a development district under the Local Employment Act, which the hon. Member suggested might be a means of speeding development. An area can be listed as a development district only when there is a high level of unemployment. That does not apply to Glenrothes or to the area surrounding it. Although Glenrothes itself may not be a development district, firms which recruit a substantial number of their workers from a development district, either locally or from Glasgow, will get assistance in establishing themselves under the Local Employment Act, and to that extent Glenrothes benefits from the inducements which the hon. Member mentioned.

The hon. Member referred also to the Toothill Report. The Government have taken a great interest in the publication of this Report and are considering its recommendations. I cannot go further than that now.

The hon. Member also asked about housing and overspill. The number of houses built over the last couple of years has been between 300 and 350. With regard to overspill, the hon. Gentleman may not appreciate that that in a way is a technical category; but including the numbers housed in overspill, a total of 250 families from Glasgow, or a population in excess of about 1,000, have been housed. There is also evidence of an increase in the number of families moving from Glasgow, and the industrial selection machinery can recruit from Glasgow the skilled workers who are required for incoming industry.

The hon. Member asked about the prospects for the town centre. Again, the outlook is promising. The rents charged are in line with those which obtain at other new towns, and certainly in relation to the sums invested in the layout and servicing of the town centre, the rents being asked are modest.

The best advice that I can give the hon. Gentleman to pass on to his perhaps rather faint-hearted friends is the words of the well-known hymn: Come, labour on. Away with gloomy doubts and faithless fear. For our part, looking ahead, we regard Glenrothes as an area of steady and perhaps even rapid growth. It has some of the finest industrial sites in Eastern Scotland. It is a pleasant and attractive town, with good housing and shopping facilities—as I know, because I have been there.

The Development Corporation has made itself known for the speed and efficiency with which it can erect factories, and can provide—with the cooperation of the local authorities—services required for industrialists. It has been particularly successful in attracting some of the new science-based industries from America. In addition to all this, there is the new Forth Road Bridge, which, when completed, will bring much improved road communication with the south.

Far from being gloomy, therefore, the outlook for Glenrothes is, I believe, bright. Its future has not depended, and does not depend, upon the fortunes of the coal-mining industry. That cannot be over-emphasised. What its future depends upon is the new scientific industries. Already success in attracting these is making Glenrothes a thriving community. Because it can call on skilled workers from Glasgow, through overspill and in other ways, the omens are good for the future development and prosperity of the town. In conclusion, I hope that in expanding upon what my right hon. Friend said in answer to the hon. Member's Question last Wednesday I have given good grounds for our confidence in the future of Glenrothes, and—

The Question having been proposed after Ten o'clock on Monday evening and the debate having continued for half an hour, Mr. DEPUTY-SPEAKER adjourned the House without Question put, pursuant to the Standing Order.