§ Order for Second Reading read.
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health (Miss Horsbrugh)I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time"
I think that this Bill will meet with the approval of all quarters of the House, and that it will be agreed that speed in dealing with it is of great importance. As hon. Members know, the block grant of the Exchequer to local authorities is calculated on a five-years basis, on a particular formula. If we were to have the recalculation now required, with the end of March, 1942, as the beginning of the new period, it would be quite impossible for anyone to suggest with any certainty what would be the position in various local authorities' areas in the years 1942–47. In that formula, there is a calculation of the population, of the number of children under five, and of various other points. Nobody would suggest that it could be said with certainty how long people will be in a particular area, especially the children under five. It is, therefore, agreed that the new calculation should be postponed until a time to be decided by Parliament, at the end of the war.
§ Mr. James Griffiths (Llanelly)It is the obvious thing to continue the existing block grant at its present level for the period of the war and for the five years afterwards. I hope that the Minister of Health will agree that when this war comes to an end the whole financial structure of local Government will have to be considered, and that it will be better perhaps to be free at the end of the war to get rid of this kind of formula. I 1306 come from a distressed area, and I remember how we used to weigh up the factors. I do not know who invented that formula, but I never met anyone who understood it. In the meantime, we hope that the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Reconstruction, in consultation with other expert people, are going to give real attention to the problem.
§ Sir Percy Harris (Bethnal Green, South-West)It is quite right that this Bill should be passed through all stages as rapidly as possible. Otherwise, the Government would be in an impossible position, and, what is far more important, the local authorities would be unable to work their machine. I remember the right hon. Gentleman the Minister of Health, some years ago, was a very severe critic of this formula. However, that is past history, and he can rest assured that we shall not hold that against him. But I want to impress upon the Minister the serious necessity for studying closely the intricate problem which is growing up very rapidly all over the country, owing to the movement of population. We shall find directly after the war that we have very difficult financial questions to face, which may undermine the whole fabric of local Government if the Ministry is caught unawares. The main burden of working out the financial scheme must obviously rest on the right hon. Gentleman's Department.
§ Question, "That the Bill be now read a Second time," put, and agreed to.
§ Bill read a Second time.
§ Bill committed to a Committee of the Whole House for the next Sitting day. — [Major Dugdale]