Mr. WHITEasked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state to what extent the contribution of £181,975 paid in relief of agricultural rates in Scotland during the financial year 1915–16 under the 2288W Agricultural Rates, etc. (Scotland) Act, 1906, was supplemented by the further contribution in relief of agricultural rates in Scotland during that financial year out of the Local Taxation (Scotland) Account under the Local Taxation (Scotland) Act, 1898, stating the total amount paid out of that account during that year in relief of agricultural rates in Scotland; what was the aggregate amount paid during that year in relief of agricultural rates in Scotland under these two Acts; and whether he will consider the desirability of adding to the information in Table 162 of the Annual Reports of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue as to the contributions in relief of agricultural rates in Scotland a reference to the supplementary contribution under the Local Taxation (Scotland) Act, 1898?
Mr. McKINNON WOODMy hon. Friend will find full details as to the payments in and out of the Local Taxation (Scotland) Account in the year ending 31st March, 1916, in the return presented to Parliament on the 7th instant, Cd. 8318, which will be issued shortly. Payments into the account are also shown in the annual Finance Accounts. The payment under the Local Taxation Account (Scotland) Act, 1898, is not an allocation of Inland Revenue Duties, and is, I think, more suitably shown in the Finance Accounts and the Local Taxation Accounts than in the Report of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue.