§ 51. Mr. JOHN TAYLORasked the President of the Local Government Board whether his attention has been drawn to the annual Report of the medical officer of health for the Chester-le-Street Rural District; whether he is aware that, referring to certain houses the property of the Usworth Colliery Company in Us-worth parish, the Report states that some of the houses still inhabited are monuments of the old insanitary colliery houses; that for the last eight years no effective improvements have been made, while all the time these houses are deteriorating; that drastic action is necessary if the people at Usworth are to have the ordinary amenities of life; that the method of scavenging in the district is antiquated and only suitable for areas with an average of about one house per square mile and utterly inadequate for this crowded district; that by the present method contractors who get the work by sending in the lowest tender get tips that are cheapest and most convenient, without any thought as to their effect on the health of the people; and whether he will make representations with a view to the medical officer's recommendations being carried out?
§ Mr. BURNSI have recently received the Report in question. The rural district council are at the present time engaged on a scheme for the erection of additional houses at Usworth, which I hope will do something to relieve the unsatisfactory position. I am in communication with the district council as to their scavenging arrangements, and will keep the case under observation.