asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that 2, Lonsdale Street, Bradford, rateable value £13 5s., is let by the owner as follows: living-room 32s. per week, two bedrooms 22s. per week, attic 17s. a week, or a total of 93s. weekly; and whether, in view of this evidence of profiteering made possible by the housing shortage, he will consider the introduction of preventive legislation?

I have no knowledge of the particular case referred to. I am considering the question of profiteering, together with others arising out of the operation of the Rent Restrictions Act, in the light of the recommendations of the Departmental Committee which reported in February last.

Will the right hon. Gentleman make inquiry into this particular case?

If the hon. Member will be good enough to give me particulars, I will make inquiry.

asked the Minister of Health the number of houses required in England and Scotland in 1919, according to the Return made by local authorities, the estimated annual requirements thereafter according to the same Return, and the number completed since or in course of construction?

As regards England and Wales, I would refer to the answer given to the hon. Member for Newcastle West last Thursday. For the figure relating to Scotland, I would refer the hon. Member to the Under-Secretary to the Scottish Board of Health.

asked the Minister of Health whether he exercises any supervision over the methods adopted by local authorities in the letting of State-assisted houses so as to ensure that the houses are let to the most desirable tenants who are in the most urgent need of houses; and whether he has received any complaints of local favouritism in connection with these lettings from any part of the country?

The general management, regulation and control of houses erected under the Housing Acts are matters entirely for the local authorities. There have very occasionally been complaints in regard to the allocation of houses erected under the State-assisted scheme, bet I am satisfied that this is not a matter in which I should interfere with the discretion of local authorities.

In view of the fact that such large sums are given as State aid for these houses, is the Minister prepared to reconsider the position if urgent cases of grevious mismanagement in that direction are brought forward?

Under the Statutory provision the discretion is left to the local authority.

also asked the Minister of Health whether he has received resolutions of protest from local authorities in South Wales against the inadequacy of the proposed grant of £6 per house as State aid to encourage the provision of working-class houses?

Yes, Sir. The objections to a differentiation in the subsidy have already been pointed out in the course of the Debate on the Second Reading of the Housing Bill.

further asked the Minister of Health whether he has received any representations from local authorities, from housing associations, and from other bodies interested in the provision of working-class houses, protesting against the exclusion of State assistance for the parlour type of house; and whether, in view of the demand for the parlour type of house as a necessary amenity in working-class life, he will reconsider his decision in the matter?

I would refer the hon. Member to the statement I made yesterday in moving the Second Reading of the Housing Bill.

Will the right hon. Gentleman reconsider the matter in the statement which he will make?

I cannot have another opportunity of speaking on the Second Reading of the Housing Bill. Perhaps the hon. Member will pay attention to what is said by other members of the Government.

asked the Minister of Health whether, seeing that in 1911 the Dartmouth Cadet. College authorities complained of the bad housing conditions prevailing in the town, that the Ministry's inspector issued a Report in 1913 condemning a large number of working-class dwellings, and that the local authority has made repeated attempts to secure the necessary powers from the Ministry for slum clearances and loans for the purpose, but have failed, he will state why these powers have been refused?

I am aware of the housing conditions of Dartmouth, and I recently sanctioned the loan for which the local authorities applied.

asked the Minister of Health what steps he is taking to help local authorities, both as to suggestion of types and upkeep, where new housing schemes are being completed, to proper garden-plot and afforestation schemes in such districts where the climatic conditions make the same extremely difficult, for example, where concentrated industrial manufacturing processes obtain?

Local authorities generally have had considerable experience in recent years in the planning of houses and estates. A number of the large authorities have their own expert advisers, but if any authority desires assistance from my Department, I shall be happy to advise them, so far as I am able to do so.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in view of the fact that the Sanitary Officers Order, 1922, contains no Regulations securing the training of those officers, he will state how the revision of qualifications required by the Ministry of Health provides for such training?

The Sanitary Officers Order, 1922, requires, subject to a dispensing power, that every sanitary inspector appointed under that Order shall be the holder of a certificate of the Royal Sanitary Institute or the Sanitary Inspector's Examination Board. Whereas no qualification had previously been prescribed by the central authority for sanitary inspectors except in London, it is now necessary, as a condition of my sanction to the appointment of a sanitary inspector outside London, for the candidate selected to have undergone such training as enabled him to obtain one of the prescribed certificates.

asked the Minister of Health the average amount of local rates paid in rural and urban areas in England and Wales for the latest periods for which the figures are available?

It is estimated that the average amount, per head of population, of the local rates paid in England and Wales in the financial year ended on the 31st of last month was

As urban rates are higher than rural rates, will the right hon. Gentleman say what provision he proposes to make for the relief of urban ratepayers to correspond with the relief given to ratepayers in agricultural districts by the grant of £2,750,000?

That does not arise out of the question.

asked the Minister of Health why the confirmation and signature of the Order for the standards of condensed milk are still being delayed; whether he is aware that the importation of skimmed condensed milk unfit for infants tends to increase week by week, while the importation and consumption of full-cream condensed milk falls; and whether, in view of the coming flush milk season, he will in the interests of public health and of British production cause this reform to be completed forthwith, in pursuance of the legislation passed last year?

I hope to be in a position to issue the Regulations to which my hon. Friend refers in the course of the next few days.

What is the cause of the delay?

It has been necessary to carry on some correspondence with the Canadian authorities, and also to obtain agreement between the Ministry of Agriculture and my Department. I think that that has caused the delay.

What has what we do domestically here got to do with Canada?

asked the Minister of Health the number of persons in England and Wales in receipt of Poor Law relief on the 31st March, 1923?

The number of persons in England and Wales in receipt of Poor Law relief on the 31st March, 1923 (including lunatics in asylums), was approximately 1,459,000.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that Earl Shilton, in Leicestershire, has no sewerage nor sewage disposal system; that quite recently it has been discovered that, in many cases, the house drains had been laid into the public road but not connected with the main drains, so causing sewage springs to burst out in the roads: and, as this is a large manufacturing village, will he make inquiries with a view of taking measures to ensure that the health of the residents is no longer jeopardised by the insanitary conditions which now prevail?

I have not received any complaints as to the sanitary conditions of this parish, but I am making inquiries.

asked the Minister of Health whether the General Nursing Council for England and Wales has submitted for his consideration a rule, framed in accordance with the provisions of Section 3(2, a) of The Nurses Registration Act, 1919, under which Parliament granted to nurses entering the nursing profession the right to a prescribed training; whether he approves of the rule as submitted or what modifications, if any, he proposes so that persons desiring to be trained as nurses may know what they are required to learn before entering an approved institution for training; and whether, seeing that the Nurses Registration Act has now been in force for over three years, and that effect has not yet been given to this principle which incorporates an important right under the Act, he is prepared to sign a rule with the least possible delay as the nurses' State examination has already been twice deferred, from 1923 to 1924 and from 1924 to 1925, pending the approval of the syllabus of prescribed training?

The General Nursing Council have submitted an examination syllabus for the general part of the Register, which I have undertaken to approve subject to two small modifications which the Council have now accepted. This syllabus will be scheduled to, and will form part of, the Rules and it sufficiently indicates the subjects in which the candidate is required to be trained. The Council have decided to make the syllabus of training advisory only and I am advised that it is competent to them under the terms of Section 3 of the Act to adopt this course. As regards the last part of the question, I will sign the examination syllabus as soon as I receive the revised copy from the Council.

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that Mrs. Emily Deacon, of 53, Richmond Road. Barnsbury, was taken in March, 1922, to the Islington workhouse infirmary; that after three days a magistrate gave her husband leave to take her home, but instead she was consigned to Colney Hatch Asylum, in contravention of Section 22 of the Lunacy Act, against her husband's wishes and without his knowledge; is he aware that she was there detained in spite of his repeated applications under Section 79 for her release till the end of November, 1922, when she was discharged to her home on a month's trial, subsequently prolonged to 2nd March, 1923; that, on reporting herself at the end of this period, she was again, without reason given, taken into the asylum; that her husband, being much distressed, applied to the visiting committee on 29th March for her release, undertaking the entire responsibility, in accordance with Section 79, but was met with a refusal; and, in view of the fact that the provisions of this Section are continually disregarded, will he take steps to have it brought effectively before the public, and cause such inquiry to be made as shall result in the discharge of Mrs. Deacon to the care of her husband?

I have made inquiries about the case referred to by the hon. Member, and I will send him a statement of the facts. Applicants for the discharge of patients under Section 79 are required to give the visiting committee a satisfactory undertaking that the patient will be properly taken care of, and the visiting committee have, in my view, exercised their discretion properly in this case.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is now prepared to publish for the information of hon. Members the Report prepared for the Ministry of Health on the cost of widows' pensions; and, if not, will he state his reasons for withholding the information it contains?

The Report to which the hon. Member presumably refers was made to the Minister of Reconstruction, not to the Ministry of Health. As the Report was based upon the Census of 1911, and in some other respects also is out of date, it hardly seems worth while to publish it, but I will send the hon. Member a copy of it.

Does the right hon. Gentleman not know that his predecessor in office secured a Report from his officers on which he based figures in connection with the suggested provision for mothers' pensions, and that that was the Report to which I referred?

Yes, and I have said that I will send the hon. Member a copy of it.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that coal can be treated and left smokeless, and weight for weight gives the same heat as raw coal, also that the smoke is condensed into marketable commodities; and whether his Department will frame a scheme for the scientific treatment of raw coal?

I am aware of the scientific facts referred to by the hon. Member, but I am advised that the formulation of a practical scheme for such a treatment of coal must await the solution of engineering problems which have been and are still engaging the active attention of the Fuel Research Board and independent workers.

Will the right hon. Gentleman consult the chief of the Fuel Research Board and ascertain whether he has not seen at work a plant which overcomes all engineering difficulties?

I will make inquiries.

Is the right hon. Gentleman not aware that there is at present on the market smokeless fuel which is regarded as being of distinct advantage to consumers?

That is not the coal referred to in the main question.

asked the Minister of Health whether his attention has been drawn to representations by the Society of Medical Officers of Health, the British Medical Association, and others, to the effect that the charges authorised by the Ministry for the bacteriological examination of the various grades of milk under Statutory Rules and Orders, 1922, No. 1332, Dairy England, and Circulars of Ministry of Health, No. 335, of 28th August, 1922, and No. 356, of 12th December, 1922, involving the services of a skilled bacteriologist and the provision of the necessary material are inadequate; and whether he will consider their revision?

I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the reply which I gave on the 18th instant to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Holborn.

Has the fee charged had reference to the small laboratories where, obviously, the costs are greater, or has the right hon. Gentleman founded it solely upon the large laboratories of large municipal centres?

I think regard has been had to the most important and larger laboratories.