§ 37. Mr. HORRABINasked the Minister of Health if he is satisfied that all the new public assistance committees are observing the terms of his circular, No. 1069; and whether he is contemplating any further action to mitigate the hardships of applicants for relief who are subjected to test-work conditions?
§ Mr. GREENWOODI have no reason to be otherwise than generally satisfied with the action taken by the public assistance authorities in response to the circular letter mentioned by my hon. Friend, or to the later circular No. 1097 which forms part of the same policy. But if my hon. Friend has any case in mind in which he thinks that the spirit of these circulars has not been observed I shall be glad to make inquiry. The organisation of schemes of training and instruction naturally takes a certain amount of time, but both this and the other elements in the policy are being kept under continuous survey by the inspectors of the Ministry of Health, and what I may call the general outlook of the new public assistance authorities on these questions is an encouraging factor of the situation.
Mr. RICHARDSONHas the Minister taken any action with regard to the Sunderland public assistance committee?
§ Mr. GREENWOODI have not that matter in mind at the moment.