§ 15. Mr. SOMERVILLE HASTINGSasked the Minister of Pensions whether, in view of the present serious shortage of hospital accommodation for the civil population, he will consider the advisability of transferring to the civil authorities those hospitals under his charge which are no longer needed for pension cases?
Mr. ROBERTSThe hospitals controlled by my Department are ordinarily either leased from public bodies or are in the nature of temporary buildings on land held on lease. When one of these hospitals is no longer required by my 1570 Department its future use is a matter for the landlord to whom the land is surrendered. I may say, however, that during the past year two hospitals have been released by the Ministry to their original purposes for use by the civil authorities.