CLAUSE 1.—(Future Revision of Constitution of Central Midwives Board.) (Hansard, 21 October 1918)

§ Mr. WATT
I think we should have some explanation of the necessity for passing a measure of this kind. It is, as hon. Members are aware, an Amendment of an Act passed in 1902, which set up a Midwives Board consisting of nine persons, four being medical practitioners, two nominated by the Lord President of the Council, one appointed by the county council, one by Queen Victoria's Institute of Nurses, and one by the British Nurses' Association. This Clause gives power to change the constitution of the Board and to increase or diminish the number of persons upon it. It also provides for abolishing the power of appointment by any body or person, for conferring on any body or person a power of appointment of one or more persons, and for altering the term of office or qualification of any member. What I wish to suggest to the right hon. Gentleman is that he should tell us in what way, if any, this Board has proved 520 unsatisfactory, and whether he considers it is too large or too small. Who is it it is proposed to ask to nominate further members, and what further bodies are to be invited to send in nominations? We ought to know what has been the genesis of this measure, and if the Midwives Board has given dissatisfaction we should be told what is the cause of that dissatisfaction.

§ Mr. BOOTH
Before the right hon. Gentleman replies, I should like to say I rather welcome this Clause. Its only object can be to improve matters, and that is what my hon. and learned Friend would desire, I imagine. But I want to ask the President of the Local Government Board if he has anything more to say about the representation of women on this authority. Will he tell us how many women there are on the Central Midwives Board, and is he proposing to add to the number? Is he satisfied that the right persons are on the Board, including women? I do not know whether we can get any assistance from any member of the legal profession in the House on the point whether the term "persons" used in paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of this Clause includes women. I want also to know what will be the policy of the President of the Local Government Board with regard to making an increased use of women on the Board.

§ The PRESIDENT of the LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. Hayes Fisher)
May I say, in reply to the hon. and learned Member for the College Division of Glasgow (Mr. Watt), that this Bill is an attempt to assimilate the law of England relating to midwives to that of Scotland, and we desire to set a convenient form of machinery by which, without asking this House to pass an Act of Parliament, it may be possible by an Order in Council, with, of course, proper safeguards, to alter the constitution of the present Central Midwives Board, in a way clearly set forth in paragraphs (b) (c) and (d) of the Clause. I may also inform my hon. Friend the Member for Pontefract (Mr. Booth) that it is the intention of the Privy Council, which governs this matter, to give direct representation to midwives on the Board. There are already, I believe, two women on this Board, and it is intended to increase the number and to have direct representation of midwives upon it.