HC Deb 03 August 1900 vol 87 c644
CAPTAIN SINCLAIR (Forfarshire)

I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether he is aware that the Poplar Board of Guardians propose to spend about £150,000 in building a pauper children's village at Hutton, and that the Poor Law Schools Committee recommend in their Report that pauper children should not be kept as a class apart and aggregated in large numbers, and whether the proposed departure from the recommendation of the Poor Law Schools Committee has been sanctioned; and, if not, what steps he intends to take to induce the Poplar Board of Guardians to adopt the alternative methods of dealing with the children recommended by the Poor Law Schools Committee.

MR. CHAPLIN

The Poplar Guardians propose to provide new accommodation at Hutton to replace the "barrack" schools at Forest Gate. Plans and estimates have not yet been submitted to the Local Government Board, and I am not in a position to state definitely what the new buildings will consist of or what the cost will be. I understand, however, that the girls and the boys under ten will be provided for in cottage homes, and the older boys in blocks. The Local Government Board have expressed their willingness to assent to the purchase of the site, and the details of the scheme will be carefully considered when the plans are submitted.