HC Deb 03 July 1923 vol 166 cc244-5
41. Mr. EDE

asked the President of the Board of Education if he has received a copy of the notice served by the sanitary inspector of the Epsom Urban District Council on the clerk of the managers of the West Hill infants' council school. Epsom; whether he is aware that the report alleges that the school is rat infested, that the wall behind the big cupboard has not been repaired or cleansed for years and is in a dilapidated, filthy, and insanitary condition and the floor-boarding rotten, that an old pot gulley with its foul contents is in the lobby, that the woodwork behind the three wash basins is dilapidated and foul, and that the waste pipes from the basins are untrapped; and that the sanitary inspector alleges that these conditions give rise to nuisance and endanger the health of the children and staff; whether the Board is aware that this structure was, about 150 years ago, used as a stable, and that the local sanitary authorities have frequently complained of its condition; whether, in view of the menace to the public health of the district caused by its continued use as a school, he will order its speedy replacement by a modern sanitary building; and whether, in the meantime, he will require the education authority to keep the present building in as good a condition as its antiquity will permit?

Lord EUSTACE PERCY (for Mr. Edward Wood)

My right hon. Friend received a letter from the Sanitary Inspector of the Epsom Urban District Council on 28th June, in which his attention was called to the notice referred to by the hon. Member. The local education authority some time ago expressed their intention of replacing the building as soon as possible, and my right hon. Friend is now in communication with them on the matter.

Mr. EDE

Will the Noble Lord make representations to the right hon. Gentleman asking that this matter should receive speedy attention, as the school has been condemned ever since I was in it 37 years ago.

Lord E. PERCY

I think my right hon. Friend has taken speedy action. The notice was only received on 28th June.