HC Deb 01 February 1940 vol 356 cc1245-8
31. Mr. Messer

asked the Minister of Health how many complaints he has received of the conduct of householders towards evacuated children billeted with them; and whether any local machinery exists to deal with any complaints which may arise?

Mr. Elliot

I do not have a numerical record, but I have in fact received very few complaints. All complaints of improper conduct that are received direct by my Department are at once investigated on the spot. In the reception areas the local authority is responsible generally for the supervision of evacuated children, and in such matters the authorities have the assistance of vigilant and hard working voluntary organisations. Many local authorities, in accordance with a recommendation which I have made to them, also have special welfare committees which exercise general supervision over the welfare of the children and deal with difficulties experienced by householders.

32. Mr. Messer

asked the Minister of Health whether he will consider making alterations in the billeting of evacuated school children in view of the widespread dissatisfaction which exists; and whether he will consider setting up camps, hostels, and other communal boarding centres where the children can be under the control of school-teachers in their out-of-school hours?

Mr. Elliot

I think that in dealing with the large-scale evacuation of school children, billeting in private houses must continue to be the main method on which we depend, since there is no other form of accommodation which could be made available on the necessary scale. It also offers the very real advantage of a continuance of home life for the children. I fully realise the importance of making conditions as easy as possible for householders and I am always ready to consider authorising the use of spare accommodation for hostels in cases which present special difficulty. A limited amount of accommodation is available in camps and the best possible use will be made of it in consultation with the Board of Education and the local education authorities.

Mr. Messer

Will the right hon. Gentleman undertake to send his own officers into the reception areas so that he can get first-hand information on the situation which is rapidly approaching a scandal?

Mr. Elliot

My officers are constantly in both the evacuation and the reception areas and I am also in very close touch with the local authorities concerned. I am actually in conference with them at present and I have not heard, from any quarter, the suggestion which the hon. Member has just made.

Mr. Messer

Will the hon. Gentleman reconsider the matter, if I submit to him special cases which have come to my notice?

Mr. Elliot

I am perfectly ready to consider special cases submitted by the hon. Gentleman or by anybody else, but I do not think that he should make rash statements of the kind which he has just made.

Mr. Messer

Will the right hon. Gentleman believe me when I tell him that I have made a tour of the reception areas and that what I have stated is stated from my own experience?

Mr. Elliot

The hon. Member is not the only person who has made a tour of these areas.

33. Dr. Edith Summerskill

asked the Minister of Health what percentage of evacuated school children have returned to London?

Mr. Elliot

The percentage of evacuated school children who had returned to the London County Council area by 20th January was 36.8.

Vice-Admiral Taylor

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the percentage will increase as long as this city is free from bombing; and, in view of the seriousness of that situation, will he consider making the evacuation of these children compulsory?

34. Dr. Summerskill

asked the Minister of Health, whether he will make an extra weekly payment in return for their services to single-handed housewives who have children billeted upon them?

Mr. Elliot

I am not able to authorise additional payments in the cases to which the hon. Member refers but local authorities and local voluntary organisations have been requested to do all they can, through helpers who have been recruited both locally and in the evacuation areas, to give assistance to housewives where it is most needed.

Dr. Summerskill

Does the right hon. Gentleman think it equitable for the Government to demand the services of these women for the duration of the war, day and night, without any remuneration except the allowance which is paid for evacuees; and does he think that evacuation can be successful on that basis?

Mr. Elliot

As far as possible, I think the hon. Lady will agree, evacuation has been on a voluntary basis, and if any housewife is aggrieved she has the opportunity of appealing to the billeting tribunal for an alteration of the conditions.

Dr. Summerskill

Is it not a fact that you have asked housewives to take these children and that they have to do so, unless they can prove either that they are unfit, or that there is not sufficient accommodation? I am asking for help for those women who are fit and willing but from whom the Government are asking too much, when it is proposed that they should go on for two or three years looking after strange children in their houses without some remuneration?

Mr. Elliot

We do our best in every way to ease the burden on housewives of whose difficulties I am sensible. As I say, we can provide for special cases of difficulty either in the way of rebilleting, or it may be in the way of taking the children away from billets altogether where it is shown that there is an exceptional burden being placed upon the housewife which she should not be asked to bear.

Mr. R. Gibson

Will the right hon. Gentleman give equal consideration to housewives with two hands?