HC Deb 03 July 1928 vol 219 cc1166-7
54. Mr. SMEDLEY CROOKE

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that in some instances boards of guardians in granting relief take into account the pensions of war orphans which are granted for the sole mainteance of those orphans and not for the general use of the family; and whether he will take steps to have this practice stopped?

Sir K. WOOD

It is the duty of a board of guardians, in considering whether destitution is present and what relief, if any, should be granted, to take into consideration, subject to certain statutory exceptions which do not include pensions to children of fathers killed in the War, all the means of subsistence available to the applicant. In practice it is not possible to divide the expenditure of a family in the manner suggested in the question, and the matter is not one in which my right hon. Friend has any authority to instruct the guardians to revise their practice.

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