42. Mr. De la Bèreasked the Minister of Health whether he will consider a scheme for assisting the local water companies throughout the country to secure a reliable and adequate supply being available in many hundreds of rural districts and villages that are at present without a supply?
§ Mr. ElliotI am always ready to consider proposals for the improvement of rural water supplies, and perhaps my hon. Friend will let me know what scheme he has in mind.
Mr. De la BèreIs my right hon. Friend aware that there are still 539 villages and parishes which receive no benefit from the special grant, and will he look into the matter; and is he further aware that many of these cases are in Evesham, and that Evesham will not be happy till they get it?
§ 57. Mr. John Morganasked the Minister of Health how many rural parishes in England and Wales are without a piped-water supply?
§ Mr. ElliotThe number of parishes in England and Wales without a piped water supply is 3,432. These parishes contain about one-eighth of the rural population.
§ Mr. MorganAre not any of these rural parishes places to which the Minister intends to evacuate children, and is he able to take any responsibility for the water supply of these areas?
§ Mr. ElliotAs I explained in a previous answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Frome (Mrs. Tate), naturally these matters are taken into consideration by the local authority before determining to send children.
§ Mr. MorganAre local authorities being advised by the Minister as to how they are to meet the position?
§ Mr. ElliotAll these matters are under continual discussion between these authorities and myself.
§ 58. Mr. J. Morganasked the Minister of Health how many rural parishes in England and Wales with a piped-water supply are without a public system of sewerage disposal?
§ Mr. ElliotThe information at my disposal does not enable me to give the exact figure, but it is estimated that there are 2,000 such parishes.
§ Mr. MorganDid not the Minister inaugurate a rural water scheme which brought the problem of public sewage very much to the fore in the villages concerned, and does he not accept responsibility?
§ Mr. ElliotThe central Department does not accept responsibility. This is a local affair. The parish pump has been one of the matters of local government ever since local government began.