§ SIR JAMES RANKINI beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether the Local Government Board are prepared to sanction the closing of a workhouse in any union where the number of inmates is very small, and when such inmates can be conveniently and economically accommodated in the workhouses of adjoining unions.
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. CHAPLIN, Lincolnshire, Sleaford)The Local Government Board, as a rule, think it very desirable that each union should have a workhouse of its own, but they have sometimes assented to an arrangement of the kind contemplated in the question. The circumstances would have to be very carefully considered in any particular instance, but where it was found to be compatible with the comfort of the inmates and that the arrangement could properly be made under the conditions suggested in the question, the Board would not withhold their sanction to the closing of a workhouse.