§ 78. Mr. WATTasked the President of the Board of Trade whether the figure of £5,579 paid for salaries of officials in this country of the International Investigation of the North Sea for the year 1915–16 is to 1361 be repeated in the year 1916–17; if not, what is to be the sum paid to these officials; what is the work which they are now doing for this sum; and is the result of their operations to be communicated to Germany in the usual way?
Mr. McKINNON WOODAs the figure mentioned represents the total of subhead "G" of the Fishery Board for Scotland's Vote, presumably my hon. Friend refers to that sub-head. If so, I should explain that while the total is £5,579, there is included in that figure £2,706 for the maintenance of the steamer "Gold-seeker," which has, since the beginning of the War, been detached on Admiralty work. Of the balance, £2,373 represents technical and clerical assistance, and this figure will be reduced by about a quarter in the Vote for 1916–17. The work to be done is the carrying out of the Scottish portion of the International Investigation. The answer to the concluding portion of the question is in the negative.