HC Deb 12 September 1893 vol 17 cc957-8
MR. CREMER

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called to the startling revelations which have recently been made concerning the insanitary state of bakehouses in various parts of London, the filthy conditions under which bread is made, the terribly prolonged hours of labour of the opera- tive bakers, and their low rate of wages; whether the power to order a careful inspection of all bakehouses in the Metropolis, and to compel their owners to put them into a perfect sanitary condition, rests with the Local Authorities or with the Home Office; and whether the Local Authorities are making any efforts to remedy the evils; and, if they are not, whether he will forthwith take the necessary steps for ascertaining the truth concerning the condition of the places in which the food of so many millions of people is prepared, and also the condition of the operative bakers who prepare it?

MR. ASQUITH

The jurisdiction of the Home Office over bakehouses was transferred by Parliament in 1883 to the Local Sanitary Authorities. In London the matter is regulated by Section 26 of "The Public Health (London) Act, 1891." Whether the Local Authorities are performing their duties is a question for the Local Government Board. If that Board represents to me that there is in any district a failure of duty on the part of the Local Authority I shall consider whether I ought not to exercise the powers conferred on the Secretary of State by Section 1 of "The Factory Act, 1891."