§ MR. J. D. WHITE (Dumbartonshire)To ask the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the fact that, in Appendix 2 of the recent Report on the Cost of Living of the Working Classes in the principal industrial towns of the United Kingdom, the percentages of the total populations occupying overcrowded tenements, i.e., more than two persons per room, are given for the specified towns of England, Ireland, and Wales, but not for the specified towns of Scotland; it being stated that the figures for the Scottish towns are not available; whether he can state what are the corresponding figures for these Scottish towns; and whether he will consider the advisability of framing the forms for the next Census so as to obtain that information.
1511 (Answered by Mr. Sinclair.) My right hon. friend has asked me to reply to this Question. My attention was directed some time ago to the fact that the figures referred to are not given in the Scottish Census Report, and under my instructions a Return has been prepared for presentation to the House which will give full information on the subject for the whole of Scotland. The figures for the specified Scottish towns are as follows—
My hon. friend will remember that the Board of Trade Report [Cd. 3164] draws attention to the fact that the tenement system of blocks of small flats is in Scotland the normal type of working-class dwelling, and that the rooms are generally much larger than those of an English cottage. The question of including these figures in the next Census Report will receive consideration.
Town. Percentage of population living more than two in a room. Aberdeen 38.1 Dundee 49.44 Edinburgh 32.94 Glasgow 54.7 Greenock 54.17 Kilmarnock 55.94 Leith 43.8 Paisley 58.76 Perth 28.26