15. Mr. Gibson (forMr. Mathers)asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is aware that a detailed statement of persons in receipt of poor relief in England and Wales, which includes an elaborate national analysis of poor relief and classified totals, etc., for each public assistance authority, is published quarterly; whether he is aware that there is no such publication, covering similar ground, for Scotland: whether he will state why Scotland is behind England and Wales in this matter; and whether he will give an undertaking that a similar quarterly statement for Scotland will be published?
§ Mr. ElliotI am aware that no quarterly statement relating to poor relief is published in Scotland. Each month, however, the Department of Health issue to the Press a statement of the numbers of poor persons chargeable in Scotland, and detailed figures relating to Scottish poor relief are published in the Department's Annual Report. I am unwilling to add without good cause to the statistical returns supplied by local authorities, but if the hon. Member, after considering the figures already published, will let me know in what respect he considers them as capable of improvement, I shall be glad to look into the matter further.
Mr. GibsonIs there any reason why there should be dissimilarity between England and Scotland in this matter?
§ Mr. ElliotI understood from recently published accounts that the hon. Member objected to exact similarity between England and Scotland.
Mr. GibsonIs not the right hon. Gentleman aware that these figures have gone up very materially since the last Labour Government went out of office?