asked the Under-Secretary to the Scottish Board of Health whether he is aware that the nearest school to the district of Riddrie is Haghill,1·milles distant from the furthest point of the new houses: that nearly 500 children arc at present attending various schools; that application by the parents to the local authority has been turned down; and will he take steps to have a school built immediately to meet the needs of a growing district?

The Department understand that the question of accommodation in this district is receiving careful attention from the Glasgow Education Authority.

Is it not a fact that it is not the local authority which inspects the schools but that the Department here sends out the inspectors?

There is another question on the Paper relating to this point.

asked the Under-Secretary to the Scottish Board of Health whether the Secretary for Scotland consulted the Fishery Board for Scotland before deciding not to exercise his powers of cancellation of whaling licences under The Whale Fisheries (Scotland) (Amendment) Act, 1922?

Yes, Sir. Before reaching his decision my Noble Friend communicated with the Fishery Board and considered all the information which the Board were able to furnish.

Are we to understand from that answer that the Secretary for Scotland follows the advice of the Board?

The Secretary for Scotland considers the information which is given to him by the Board, and subsequently comes to his own decision on it, as he must do.

asked the-Under-Secretary to the Scottish Board of Health the number of new schools provided since January, 1919, in Scotland, and the total amount expended thereon; if any reports have been made to the Scottish Education Department regarding the present condition of school buildings by the local authorities or by His Majesty's inspectors of schools; and if he is prepared to institute a comprehensive survey of the needs of Scotland as regards the provision of modern school buildings and their equipment?

The number of new schools provided since January, 1919, in Scotland is 23, and the total amount expended thereon was £288,407. The answer to the second part of the question is in the affirmative. I would refer the hon. Member to the general Reports of His Majesty's chief inspectors, which are published annually. In reply to the last part of the question, I am asked by my Noble Friend to point out that the duty of taking stock of the needs of each education area falls upon its education authority. The Department are in close touch with the education authorities in this matter, and the present time is not thought to be opportune for a more comprehensive survey.

Would it not be possible for the Department to collate the returns and the Reports by the local authorities, so that some general view could be had by Members of this House?

It would require an amount of investigation that we do not feel justified in pressing for at the moment.

Is it not the fact that one or the education authorities in Scotland has had a building scheme to the value of half a million turned down by Government Departments, despite the fact that the buildings are required at the present time?

asked the Under-Secretary to the Scottish Board of Health whether he can state the area in which the 35,000 crans of herring, said to have been caught last season on the west side of Shetland, were caught?

Practically the whole of the herrings referred to were caught in waters from 10 to 30 miles north and north-west of the Rama Stacks.

Is it not a fact that a large quantity of these herrings were caught north-east of the Muckle Flugga?

No, Sir, not according to the chart which I have here, and which I shall be pleased to discuss afterwards with my hon. Friend. They were caught in the locality to which I have referred, namely, north-east of the Rama Stacks.

asked the Under-Secretary to the Scottish Board of Health whether he is aware that a number of landless men living in or near the township of Torrin, in Skye, for cultivating without sanction patches of ground on the farm of Kilbride, are being threatened with imprisonment by John Anderson and his son, Roderick Anderson, the tenants of the farms of Kilbride and Kilchrist, in the island of Skye; what legal proceedings have so far been taken by these pursuers to obtain their purpose; will the Government consent to imprisonment in the same way as has been done in the Strathlaird case; whether he is aware that both these farms extend to several hundreds of acres, a considerable part of which is fit for cultivation and is now used for sheep and game-rearing purposes; whether the present tenants hold two considerable crofts in the said township of Torrin in addition to the said two farms; whether the Secretary for Scotland will take steps to make such lands available for small holdings, having regard to the fact that the Board of Agriculture has been often appealed to within the last ten years to provide for the landless people of the district, and to take the whole or part of the farms above-mentioned for small holdings?

My Noble Friend understands that Messrs. John and Roderick Anderson, tenants of the farms of Kilbride and Kilchrist, have applied for and obtained final interdict against three men who took possession of part of the farm of Kilbride. The question whether imprisonment will be ordered in the event of breach of the interdict is a matter for the court to decide. The farms comprise about 1,800 acres of which 30 acres are arable. They are stocked with cattle and sheep, and some game is obtained from the ground. The present tenants also occupy one and a half crofts at Torrin. Negotiations for the formation of small holdings on Kilbride were in progress when the illegal occupation took place, but my Noble Friend is not prepared to instruct the Board of Agriculture to proceed with the negotiations while the raiders remain in occupation. There has been no improper or avoidable delay in dealing with the question of land settlement.

asked the Under-Secretary to the Scottish Board of Health whether he will submit to the House the correspondence that has passed between the Secretary for Scotland, the Board of Agriculture, and the representatives of the landless men regarding the various cases throughout the Western Isles in which the landless men are now being threatened with imprisonment for cultivating bits of land for which they are willing to pay fair rents?

My Noble Friend is not prepared to take the course suggested.

Why?

It is open to anyone to publish this correspondence, but my Noble Friend does not feel that it ought to be published at the public expense.

asked the Under-Secretary to the Scottish Board of Health if he will state how many new small holdings have been created in Scotland since the passing of the Land Settlement (Scotland) Act, 1919; in how many of these cases have the tenants been settled on land which has been purchased by the Board of Agriculture; what has been the total cost of creating these holdings; and how much of it is due to the purchase of the land?

Under the Land Settlement (Scotland) Act, 1919, the Board have settled applicants in 1,219 new holdings and 674 enlargements, of which 762 and 140 respectively were on properties acquired by the Board under Part I of the Act. I am not yet in a position to give the actual total cost of the holdings already formed, but the total estimated gross cost of the schemes in question, which on completion will have provided for the settlement of an additional 1,037 holders, is £2,309,161, including £433,420 in respect of the purchase prices of properties acquired by the Board. In addition to the latter figure, the acquisition of certain properties involves the payment of £25,137 annually over varying periods of years.

asked the Under-Secretary to the Scottish Board of Health in how many cases the tenants on holdings created by the Board of Agriculture have not had their rents finally fixed?

In all but 15 cases the rents of holdings created by the Board of Agriculture for Scotland have been intimated to the holders. The hon. and gallant Member is, however, aware that in certain cases the rents already fixed are to be revised by the Land Court at the request of the holders concerned, and to that extent they cannot be said to be final.

asked the Under-Secretary to the Scottish Board of Health the conditions upon which a pupil can claim as of right entrance to an intermediate or secondary school without payment of fees, in terms of Section 6 (1) (a) of The Education (Scotland) Act, 1918?

The answer can only be in the negative. The Sub-section mentioned does not define the right of the pupil. What it does is to impose an obligation upon the Education Authority. I have already had an opportunity of informing the hon. Member that, whilst my Noble Friend has no reason to believe that the obligation is not being properly discharged, he will gladly consider any evidence to the contrary with which the hon. Member is good enough to supply him.

Can the hon. and gallant Gentleman answer the question I put to him before, namely, whether he considers that the education authorities in Scotland are carrying out the law as laid down in this Section?

I think the previous answer was to the effect that our attention had not been drawn to the case of any authority that was not carrying out the law according to this Section.

Is it not the duty of Board's inspectors to draw the attention of the Department to any breaches of the law, have they done so, and have they been asked to do so?

It is the duty of anyone who observes a breach of the law to draw the attention of the responsible authorities to it, and I can only say we have repeatedly invited the hon. and gallant Member himself to draw our attention to any cases of breaches of the law.

I have a dozen cases.