§ 26. Mr. EDWARD WILLIAMSasked the Minister of Health if, for the information of Members and to enable county and county borough authorities to practise reciprocity of treatment to adult blind persons who move from one place to another, he will give a statement showing up to 1st April, 1932, the number of county and county borough councils in 2094 England and Wales which have implemented their powers under the Local Government Act, 1929, Section 5, and have made a declaration under this Section regarding the Blind Persons Act, 1920; and showing what cash assistance additional to the statutory grant is paid to each adult blind person in such county or county borough areas as have made such declaration, and showing the county and county borough councils where additional assistance to necessitous adult blind persons is debited to public assistance and is shown in the returns of the relieving officers?
Sir H. YOUNGUp to the 1st April, 1932, 11 county councils and 37 county borough councils had made declarations under Section 5 of the Local Government Act, 1929, with regard to the domiciliary assistance of blind persons. The information available docs not enable me to answer the second and third parts of the question, and I do not think that the labour of obtaining and collating special returns from the local authorities would be justified. I do not clearly understand the reference to a statutory grant, but a considerable number of local authorities, in addition to those mentioned in the first part of the question, have undertaken to bring the income of unemployable blind persons up to a specified amount. The expenditure for this purpose is not debited to public assistance.