§ SIR JOHN LENG (Dundee)To ask the Lord-Advocate whether the prosecution in Dundee of twenty-one parents who conscientiously object to the vac- 70 cination of their children has been ordered by the Local Government Board for Scotland; whether such prosecutions take place in England; and why so many prosecutions of this kind are being conducted in one Scottish city.
(Answered by Mr. Scott Dickson.) The Local Government Board do not directly order the prosecution of vaccination defaulters, but are required by the Vaccination Act to see that its provisions are duly carried out. The Board communicate when necessary with parish councils calling attention to the provisions of the Act, and, among the parish councils lately so communicated with, the parish council of Dundee was written to in the early part of the year. In regard to the latter part of the hon. Member's Question I have no information in regard to English prosecutions. The number of prosecutions, of course, depends on the number of defaulters.