§ SIR JOHN SHELLEYsaid, he wished to ask the President of the Poor Law Board, Whether he is prepared to suggest to the guardians of the several Poor Law Unions of the Metropolis the advisability of assimilating the dietary tables in the several Union Workhouses in the Metropolis?
§ MR. C. P. VILLIERSSir, the dietaries in workhouses have been prepared by the guardians of the unions or parishes to which the workhouses belong. They are generally framed, according to the experience of the Board of Guardians, to suit the exigencies of their own union or parish. They are referred to the Poor Law Board, who require the opinion of the medical officer, as to the propriety and sufficiency of the dietary for the particular workhouse. They receive his Report, and comparing the dietary with certain principles and rules with which they have been supplied by a very eminent scientific authority, and with the result of their own experience, they either sanction the proposal or suggest alterations. It has not been the practice of the Board to compare dietaries of different unions together, as they have never sought to bring about any uniformity in this matter. But a communication from an experienced and able medical officer in the metropolis has been made to the Board a short time since, directing the attention of the Board to the diversities which prevail in the dietaries of the workhouses of the metropolis, and the Board propose to cause an investigation to be made upon the subject, with the view of ascertaining whether any action can be taken in the matter with a beneficial effect.