§ Sir F. DIXON-HARTLAND (Middlesex, Uxbridge)To ask the President of the Local Government Board whether he 1230 is aware that a smallpox hospital is being erected at Han worth, Middlesex, on land the surface water from which drains into the Thames at Hampton immediately above the intakes of the South wark and Vauxhall Water Company, the Grand Junction Water Company, and the West Middlesex Water Company; whether he is aware that the site on which the building stands is at times under water from four to nine inches; and seeing that it is contrary to the regulations of the Local Government Board, issued August, 1900, to build on a site where 400 persons reside within a quarter of a mile of the building, over 1,000 within half a mile, and 3,000 just outside that radius, whether he will take any, and if so what, steps to prevent the danger to the neighbourhood and London they shadow forth.
(Answer.) I am aware that a temporary smallpox hospital is being erected at Hanworth for the use of the urban districts of Hampton, Teddington, and Hampton Wick, and complaints have been made to me with regard to it. I can only require the observance of the regulations referred to in the third paragraph of the Question, in cases in which the cost of the hospital is to be defrayed out of borrowed money. In the present instance I understand this is not proposed, and I have therefore no authority to interfere. Having regard, however, to the allegations made, I have thought it desirable to instruct two of the officers of the Department to visit the site and report to me fully on the subject; and I have given instructions accordingly.—(Local Government Board.)