§ MR. LEON (Bucks, N.)I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether his attention has 1672 been called to the insanitary condition of the village of Grandborough in Bucks, and to the fact that the death rate during the last four months has been at the rate of fifty per one thousand per annum, and that there is no water fit to drink; and whether he will at once communicate with the Rural Sanitary Authority in order to improve the sanitary condition of the village?
§ MR. STUART WORTLEYI will answer the question on behalf of my right hon. Friend. The attention of the Local Government Board had not been called to the insanitary condition of the village of Grandborough, but since notice was given of the question they have communicated with the Sanitary Authority. They are informed, in reply, that the population of the village is three hundred and one, and that during the first four months of the present year there were five deaths, one from bronchitis, another from drowning, one from peritonitis, a fourth from pneumonia, and one from enteric fever. The Report of the Medical Officer of Health as to the water supply, given verbatim, is—
I must tell you that the only water considered unfit for drinking purposes was closed last week. Another well is being closed outside the village. With that exception I believe the quality and quantity of water are good.The Local Government Board are also informed that notices under the Public Health Act, 1875, and the Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890, have been served by the Sanitary Authority upon the owners of insanitary and overcrowded houses.