§ 89. Dr. WATTSasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department, as representing the Ministry of Health, the total number of insurance committees in England, the total number of members, and the total expense of the meetings, including railway fares, payments to members for loss of time, and for subsistence; and whether, in the interests of economy, he is prepared to consider the advisability of reducing either the number of committees or the number of members of each committee?
§ Sir W. JOYNSON-HICKSThere are 128 insurance committees in England with an aggregate membership of 3,130. In 1922 the total expenditure on travelling was £2,005 and the payment for subsistence and loss of remunerative time was £1,658. The National Health Insurance Act, 1921, reduced the minimum membership from 40 to 20 and the maximum from 80 to 40, and the revised limits have not yet been in operation sufficiently long to indicate whether any further reduction in the size of these committees is practicable.