§ 28. Mr. O'GRADYasked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he has received a statement from the Leeds insurance committee showing that the estimated income for sanatorium benefits is £9,893 15s.; and that on the year's working, if the provisions of the National Insurance Act are to be fully carried out, the amount required will be £37,836 17s. 6d., showing a deficiency of £27,943 2s. 6d.; if so, what steps, if any, the Treasury intend taking to meet this case?
§ Mr. MASTERMANThe figures in the estimates of the committee are being carefully considered, and I hope that a conference is to take place on the subject in the next few days, after which it will be easier to see what steps, if any, are needed to supplement the present provision for sanatorium benefits. I may point out, however, that the estimates 787 given in the question are certainly excessive, as they are based on the assumptions that all applicants require institutional treatment, that all applicants admitted to an institution require to stay there through the whole of a year, and that the number of beds required in this area would be about seven times the number required on the basis of the recommendations of the Astor Report.