§ MR. JOHN ELLISI beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether his attention has been called to the erection by the Corporation of Nottingham of a smallpox hospital on the extreme northern boundary of their area, in close proximity to a road along which numbers of persons are daily passing, and to a number of dwelling houses and a growing population; and whether he can take any steps in the matter for the protection of the public outside Nottingham.
§ MR. WALTER LONGThe Nottingham Town Council have erected a smallpox hospital on a site which they consider the most suitable that could have been selected within the borough. I am informed that the neighbourhood is the most sparsely inhabited part of the borough, that there is no considerable population within a radius of two miles of the site, and that within this radius there are only a few scattered houses and the Bestwood Colliery and Ironworks, the latter being half-a-mile from the hospital. The Town Clerk informs me that the road referred to in the Question is used almost solely by men working at the colliery and ironworks, most of whom drive by in brakes when going to and from work and have no need to pass at any other time. He adds that there is no evidence of any increase, or likelihood of increase, in building operations in the neighbourhood. The Town Council have not applied to me for sanction to a loan in connection with the hospital and I have no jurisdiction in the matter. I should gather that the conditions which the Local Government Board require in the case of hospitals provided by means of loans sanctioned by them have been complied with, but I will make further inquiry as to this.