asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of persons in Scotland in receipt of parish relief at the last date for which figures are available; the number of these persons who were natives of the Irish Free State; and, if possible, the length of time for which they had been resident in Scotland before they claimed such relief?

The total number of poor chargeable in Scotland at 15th May, 1929, was 210,956 (including 103,060 dependants) of whom 74,439 (including 50,823 dependants) were destitute able-bodied poor. As regards the second part of the question, na particulars are available regarding the number of natives of the Irish Free State chargeable in Scotland, but of the total of 210,956 poor persons chargeable at 15th May, 1929, 14,726 (including 6,717 dependants) were natives of Ireland. The information asked for in the last part of the question is not available.