§ MR. CALDWELL (Lanark, Mid)I beg to ask the Lord Advocate whether, having regard to the statement that a sum of £26,000 per annum was required to be advanced out of the Imperial Exchequer in order to keep up the Fee Grant to 12s. per head, and the estimate having since been proved to have been overstated by upwards of £20,000, a sum of only £5,000 being taken for the purpose in this year's Education Estimates, the Government will reconsider the amount of the grant payable to Scotland under the said Act.
§ * THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. A. GRAHAM MURRAY,) ButeshireOwing to the contingent balances available for Fee Grant having been larger than was expected, the additional amount required from the Imperial Exchequer has not reached the estimate formed. But as the average attendance increases, the amount required will become larger, and the Government are not at present prepared to re-open the arrangement made in 1897.
§ MR. CALDWELLI beg to ask the Lord Advocate, if he can state the amount of Probate Duty Grant available for distribution for the years ending 31st March, 1898, and 31st March, 1899, under the provisions of The Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1891, as amended by The Education and Local Taxation (Scotland) Act, 1892: and, what balance, if any, was applied as an addition to the fee grant during each of the said years.
§ * MR. A. GRAHAM MURRAYFor the year ended 31st March, 1898, the amount of Probate and Licence Duties available for distribution was £637,327. The balance of this amount applied as an addition to the fee grant was £16,202. In respect of the year ended 31st March,1899, the final payments into the grant have not yet been received, but the last payment made brings the amount up to £620,000.