asked the Minister of Health why it is not proposed to classify pharmacists and dispensers as principal officers under the draft Poor Law Orders issued by his Department; and whether he will make arrangements for this matter to be debated in the House?

Pharmacists and dispensers are not principal officers at present, save in a few exceptional cases where they hold that status by virtue of special Orders, none of which are of recent date. In those cases, the individual status of the officers will be preserved by Section 121 of the Local Government Act, 1929, and I have already given reasons in my answer of 5th December last to the hon. Member for South Battersea (Mr. W. Bennett) against altering the present practice. I see no adequate ground for arranging for the matter to be debated.