§ Mr. A. T. DAVIESasked the Secretary for Scotland whether there arc any restrictions on the granting of Poor Law relief in Scotland; and whether there have been any complaints of excessive expenditure on such relief?
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Mr. ADAMSONThere is no prescribed scale of relief in Scotland, Parliament having left parish councils a discretion as to the amount of relief to be allowed in individual cases. In practice, however, a uniform scale of relief for the able-bodied poor has been adopted by a number of parish councils on the recommendation of a conference of representatives of parish councils held in September, 1921. Certain parish councils, however, have fixed a different scale. In a few areas, when the relief granted appeared to be excessive or extravagant and, therefore, illegal and liable to be surcharged, the Board of Health have had to call the attention of the parish councils concerned to the matter, and this has generally been sufficient to secure compliance with the law.