§ 17. Mr. R. RICHARDSONasked the President of the Board of Education whether he is aware that large numbers of the children are attending the elementary schools in the county of Durham suffering from hunger and very often without proper boots and clothing 2303 and that the local education authority have no funds at their disposal to render any aid because of the poverty of the county; and will he now say what proposals, if any, he has to remedy this state of affairs?
§ The PRESIDENT of the BOARD of EDUCATION (Lord Eustace Percy)I cannot agree that the Durham County Council are too poor to do what local education authorities in other distressed areas are doing. For the rest, I must ask the hon. Member to await the statement promised by the Prime Minister.
§ Mr. RICHARDSONIs the right hon. Gentleman not aware that the county council have had before them the question of the feeding of the children, but that they have not the funds to do it, and that the children are without food and going to school hungry and 'without boots and without clothing? Can nothing be done by your Department?
§ Lord E. PERCYI am afraid I must repeat that so far as the feeding is concerned that is a responsibility of the local authority; but I have been in communication with them, and they have had assistance from the Board. I cannot agree that while local authorities in other distressed areas can find funds for feeding the Durham County Council cannot.
§ Mr. LAWSONIs it not the fact that this local authority have always been ready to feed them in the past when having funds at their disposal?
§ Lord E. PERCYIt has certainly done so in the past. I know how serious is the financial condition in Durham, but it is not more serious than in many areas in South Wales, and I cannot agree that they really have not got the money to do what they ought to do.
§ Mr. LAWSONWill the right hon. Gentleman agree that they have always had the will to do it in the past?
§ Lord E. PERCYI am afraid that the fact that the local authority have had the will to do things in the past does not excuse them for not doing it now.
§ Mr. RICHARDSONIn giving me that answer, has the right hon. Gentleman taken note of the rates now being levied in the county of Durham?
§ Lord E. PERCYYes, and I have taken into account the rates which are being levied in the Rhondda and many other distressed areas.
19. Mr. ROBINSONasked the President of the Board of Education the number of districts where children are being fed by the local education authority and give the names of those districts where the education rate is 2s. in the £ or more; and whether grants will be made to enable educational authorities in the poorer areas to supply food on seven days of the week to the children?
§ Lord E. PERCYThe number of areas in which children are being fed by the local education authority is 126. I will circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT a statement showing in which of these areas the education rate is two shillings in the £ or more. It is open to authorities to provide meals on seven days of the week if, in their opinion, the circumstances render it necessary, and grant is payable by the Board on the expenditure so incurred.
§ Following is the statement:
§ Local education authorities who are feeding school children and whose education rates are 2s. in the £ or more.
| Counties: | |
| Warwickshire. | Glamorgan. |
| Yorks. W. Riding. | Monmouth. |
| County Boroughs: | |
| Barnsley. | Liverpool. |
| Barrow. | Manchester. |
| Birkenhead. | Northampton. |
| Birmingham. | Norwich. |
| Blackburn. | Nottingham. |
| Bolton. | Oldham. |
| Bootle. | Portsmouth. |
| Bradford. | Preston. |
| Bristol. | Reading. |
| Burnley. | Rochdale. |
| Carlisle. | St. Helens. |
| Coventry. | Salford. |
| Derby. | Sheffield. |
| Doncaster. | Smethwick. |
| East Ham. | Southampton. |
| Gateshead. | South Shields. |
| Grimsby. | Stoke-on-Trent. |
| Halifax. | Sunderland. |
| Kingston-upon-Hull. | Tynemouth. |
| Leeds. | West Ham. |
| Leicester. | West Hartlepool. |
§ 20 Mr. PALINGasked the President of the Board of Education (1) whether any steps are being taken to provide clothes and footwear for children of under-employed miners and other necessitous persons in the distressed areas;
(2) whether any steps are being taken to provide footwear and clothes for children in other areas than South Wales, Durham, and Northumberland?
§ Lord E. PERCYLocal funds for the provision of boots for necessitous children exist in practically every area in this country, but the hon. Member doubtless refers to assistance given from outside to areas where these local funds have proved to be insufficient. The provision of hoots and clothing for the children in the distressed mining areas is one of the main objects of the Lord Mayor's Fund and of some of the other Funds 2306 which have been opened for the relief of distress in the coalfields. I believe that most of the money at present subscribed has been devoted to this purpose. Hitherto the whole of the Lord Mayor's Fund has been devoted to South Wales, Northumberland, and Durham, but I understand that other distressed mining areas will share in the money now being raised for the Fund by Lord Mayors and Mayors of provincial cities.
§ Mr. PALINGIs the Noble Lord aware that where the miners are not unemployed but under-employed, in thousands of cases they receive no more assistance than those who are totally unemployed?
§ Lord E. PERCYAs far as I know—I am not responsible for the distribution of these grants—no distinction has been made between those miners who are unemployed and those under-employed.
§ 41. Mr. PALINGasked the Minister of Health whether anything is being done to provide footwear and clothes for children not attending school in the distressed areas?
§ Mr. PALINGDoes that mean that nothing is being done under the Poor Law to give relief in these cases?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINWith regard to footwear and clothes, I think it is provided by the Lord Mayor's Fund, and not by the guardians.
§ Mr. PALINGIs nothing being done by the Poor Law authorities? Is it being left to private charity entirely?