§ Sir W. Darlingasked the Minister of Works if he is aware that on Whit Monday the public offices of his Department in Edinburgh were closed; and, in view of the inconvenience caused by the adoption of English holidays in Scotland, whether he will reconsider this practice.
§ Mr. KeyI am not aware that any serious inconvenience to the public was caused by closing the offices of my Department in Edinburgh on Whit Monday. Duty officers were in attendance at the Edinburgh Headquarters Office on that day and comparatively few visitors called. The public holidays observed in all my Scottish offices are selected after consultation with the staffs88W concerned and do not necessarily conform to English practice in every case.