§ SIR CUTHBERT QUILTER (Suffolk, Sudbury)To ask the President of the Local Government Board whether, with a view to giving effect to the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Arsenical Poisoning, the arrangements foreshadowed in his predecessor's statement have now been effected; whether 599 the special inspector and assistant inspector, for whose expenses provision was made in the Estimates this year, have been appointed; and, if so, what is the precise nature of the duties allotted to them.
(Answered by Mr. Gerald Balfour.) An inspector has been appointed, and arrangements are being proceeded with as to an assistant inspector. It is the duty of the inspector to advise the Local Government Board as to the administration of the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts and other similar Acts, to deal with matters relating to the purity and adulteration of food which are brought to the Board's notice by public analysts, medical officers of health, and others, to obtain information upon special questions relating to the purity and adulteration of food and the use of deleterious substances therein, and to make suitable inquiries and investigations for this purpose. The inspector will make a report, which will be included in the annual report of the Board's medical officer, under whose direction he will act.