HC Deb 20 December 1965 vol 722 c1680
47. Mr. Lubbock

asked the Minister of Health what arrangements have been made by the Kent County Council for visits by the husbands of families in the King Hill Hostel, West Malling, over the Christmas period.

Mr. K. Robinson

The arrangements are as indicated in my reply to my hon. Friend, the Member for Rochester and Chatham (Mrs. Anne Kerr) on 17th December.

Mr. Lubbock

Does not the right hon. Gentleman agree that these arrangements are utterly inadequate and that the exception which is made for the Christmas period shows that there is no point at all in this rule? Will he seek to amend the National Assistance Act so as to require local authorities to provide accommodation for a whole family and not just a part of it?

Mr. Robinson

I do not see any prospect of time for legislation to amend the National Assistance Act at the moment, but, as I indicated in the Answer to which I referred, I am not wholly satisfied with the present situation. It is clear that the short-term measures which the council has taken can provide the basis for further progress, given co-operation by all concerned.