§ Sir F. WISEasked the Secretary of State for Scotland the cost of all the Departments for Scotland in 1913–14; the estimated cost in 1927–28; and the number of officials, respectively, in the years named?
§ Sir J. GILMOURThe net expenditure on Scottish Services borne on the Votes in connection with Departments for whose administration I am responsible was, in 1913–14, approximately, £3,917,000, and for 1927–28 is estimated at, approximately, £12,004,000. The term "net expenditure" means expenditure including allied services after deduction of appropriations-in-aid and Extra Exchequer Receipts (but not of the cost of services rendered for other Departments). The 1913 figure includes the cost of the Scottish National Health Insurance Commission, now merged in the Scottish Board of Health, and a proportion of the cost of the Reformatory and Industrial Schools Vote, and of certain grants for which Scottish expenditure was not then separately indicated. The 1927 total includes a subsidy of £10,000 to a steamship company for services previously remunerated from the Post Office Vote, and certain expenditure on Marine Superintendence carried on the Vote of the1858W Fishery Board for Scotland, which was formerly met out of the Marine Deposit Fund and did not appear on the Vote.
Numbers of staff cannot in all cases be accurately given, but taking whole-time staff, excluding cleaners, the figures are, approximately, 1,820 for 1913–14, and 2,710 for 1927–28. The latter figure includes the personnel of the Fishery Board's Marine Service (103), formerly paid from the Marine Deposit Fund. Neither figure includes staff paid from lump-sum allowances, and for a true comparison of staffs this factor must be taken into account. On a rough calculation, it appears that the staff in this category is some 200 less now than in 1913. Part-time officials shown on the Votes are, approximately, the same in number now as in 1913. They appear almost entirely in the Legal and Prisons Services.