§ MR E. ROBERTSON (Dundee)asked the Secretary to the Treasury, Whether he could now answer a Question which he put earlier in the day to him respecting the cost of the Office of the Secretary for Scotland?
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. JACKSON) (Leeds, N.)It is a little difficult to answer the question with any degree of accuracy. In the first place, the question divides itself into two—whether it be the comparative cost of doing Scottish Business now, as compared with the cost of doing it formerly, prior to the creation of the Secretary for Scotland's Establishment. It will be seen that inasmuch as before the Secre- 1954 tary for Scotland's separate Establishment there was no separate charge for the Scottish Business, we have no data on which we can form any opinion as to what the actual cost was before the separate Establishment. It is difficult also to state what is the actual increased charge upon the Votes, for this reason, that we can only got the figures from the Appropriation Accounts, and these accounts for 1885–6, which are the last that were published and in our possession, only give the figures for a portion of the year—about three months of that year—and we have not, therefore, in the Appropriation Accounts a complete year with which to compare. The only figures which it is possible to quote as accurate are as follows:—In the Estimates for 1885 provision was made in the Home Office Toto for the inspection of pollution of rivers, and in the Local Government Board Vote for alkali inspection—inspectors, £1,555; and messengers, £332; making a total of £1,887. In the Estimates for the current year, provision is made specifically for the Scottish Secretary's Department—in Class 2 £9,143, and in Class 1 (rent of Dover House) £2,800. It is also estimated that the separation of the Scottish Education Department has added £211, making a total of £12,154. Deducting the charge which appeared on the Votes in 1885–6, to which I have referred—namely, £1,887—we find that the additional charge on the Estimates is £10,267. In addition to this, there will be certain charges for building, maintenance, & c, fuel and light, furniture, and rates in Class 1, and stationery in Class 2. These charges cannot be specifically traced in the Estimates, because they are provided out of the round sums which meet the general average charge on all Departments, and which are not separately stated. The average cost of the Department in respect to all these services would be about £1,500. The total additional charge on the Estimates may therefore be put at £11,800. It must, however, be observed that the relief afforded to the Education Office, the Home Office, the Local Government Board, and the Board of Trade by the transfer of the Scotch work from them only provided for extra work in those Departments for which extra staff would have certainly been required had the transfer not taken place.