§ 31. Mr. Stonehouseasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what action has been taken with regard to the conditions at the African Hospital in Lusaka.
§ Mr. J. AmeryHealth is a Federal responsibility and it would not be for me to provide the information requested.
§ Mr. StonehouseHas the hon. Gentleman's attention been drawn to a series of articles in the Lusaka newspapers about two months ago indicating that the hospital in Lusaka was a sore on the thriving flesh of Lusaka and also giving details of the ill-treatment of children, 20 per cent. of whom die because of the appalling conditions in this hospital? What is the Under-Secretary doing about it? Does it not indicate that health responsibility should be transferred from the Federal administration to being a territorial responsibility?
§ Mr. AmeryIf the hon. Member would care to put down specific Questions to the appropriate Department, I have no doubt that they will be dealt with.
§ Mr. StonehouseOn a point of order. May I have your guidance, Mr. Speaker, concerning which is the appropriate Department to reply to these points?
§ Mr. SpeakerI understood that the hospital at Lusaka was a Federal responsibility and not one for us.
§ Mr. J. GriffithsFurther to that point of order. Are we to understand that no Questions can be put to the Secretary of State for the Colonies about, for example, an African hospital in a Protectorate?
§ Mr. SpeakerI should have to consider that. I understood the Under-Secretary to say that health was a Federal responsibility. I should have to examine further whether the hospital actually came under the general description of health administration. At the moment, I do not know.
§ Mr. CallaghanWhen considering the matter, Mr. Speaker, would you also consider how far we can discharge our responsibilities for these people, who are in our protection, if we are not allowed to ask Questions about their health?
§ Mr. SpeakerI am not at all concerned with the matter of policy which is involved. It is our practice in this House that if we delegate powers to other authorities, we let them carry on with them.
§ Mr. AlbuFurther to that point of order. When you are considering the matter, Mr. Speaker, will you consider 361 whether the conditions of Africans and their administration are, in fact, the responsibility of the territorial Government and this House? It is difficult to separate the conditions of these people when they are in their territories and when they are in hospital.
§ Mr. SpeakerThat may be an argument against its being entirely a Federal responsibility, but I do not know.
§ Mr. GriffithsIn this and in similar cases, Mr. Speaker, will you consider whether there is a responsibility on the Secretary of State for the Colonies for which he ought to answer Questions in this House?
§ Mr. SpeakerIf I had a specific question. I could answer it. I should not like to go into a roving inquiry as to the exact boundaries of responsibility. If the right hon. Gentleman considers the matter further and will ask me a specific question, I will do my best to unravel it.