asked the Minister of Health the number of mental defectives and feeble-minded persons in this country and the number of staff employed to look after them?

I regret that the number of feeble-minded persons is not available. There were 91,050 mental defectives in England and Wales on the 1st January, 1942 (the latest date for which figures are available). Of these, 41,982 were not in institutions and no staff was employed to look after them. I have not complete figures of staff for institutions but at 49 certified institutions from which I obtained particulars in January, 1942, there were 26,385 patients and 2,947 charge nurses and nurses.