§ 44. Miss Lestorasked the Minister of Health how many local authorities have set up weekend or evening infant welfare clinics.
§ Mr. LoughlinI regret that this information is not available centrally.
§ Miss LestorIs my hon. Friend aware that some of these clinics have been set up and in one, for example, in the Notting Hill Gate area the number of attendances has more than doubled since it was set up four years ago? Would my hon. Friend not agree that this demonstrates that there is a demand for these services and that possibly many young children would probably not receive the services of a welfare clinic unless it takes place in the evening or at the weekend?
§ Mr. LoughlinI agree that, in addition to the clinic mentioned by my hon. Friend, there have been one or two other experiments along these lines in London. But I am not sure that evening clinics of this kind are as satisfactory as may appear on the surface. I would not like to think that we were pursuing a policy which meant that youngsters would be kept up very late in the evening.