§ 60. Mr. BOOTHasked the President of the Local Government Board the present estimated population within the county council area of London; what money was spent by the county council upon treatment of tuberculous persons; and what is 1585 the number of beds in sanatoria or similar institutions under the direct management of the London County Council?
Mr. FISHERThe estimated civilian population within the county council area in the middle of 1917 was slightly over four millions. Figures are not yet available as to the actual expenditure of the county council on the treatment of tuberculosis during the last financial year, to which period I presume the hon. Member refers. The estimate for that year was £35,090, and the actual expenditure for the year 1916–17 was £28,399. In addition, the Metropolitan Asylums Board incurred during that year a gross expenditure of £64,831, and a net expenditure of £33,557, on the treatment of tuberculosis. The London County Council do not themselves erect or manage sanatoria, but during the past year they have contracted with the Metropolitan Asylums Board and with other sanatorium authorities for the provision of about 580 beds. The total number of beds provided in the institutions of the Asylums Board for the treatment of tuberculosis is about 780, apart from beds reserved for children under the care of guardians.