POOR LAW—THE BOARDING-OUT SYSTEM.—QUESTION. (Hansard, 5 July 1877)

THE DUKE OF RICHMOND AND GORDON

said, he was not at all sorry that the noble Lord should have put a Question upon such a very distressing case as that to which he referred. The Local Government Board had required an Inspector to report upon the case, and it appeared from the evidence that it was one of the grossest neglect. The 810 circumstances under which these children were boarded out were somewhat as follows:—It appeared that two years ago the Guardians of the Nantwich Union, contrary to the advice of the Local Government Department, came to the resolution to board out their orphan and deserted children, in order to save themselves the expense of building, or uniting with another Union in building, a suitable place for them. The Guardians, it is true, in July, 1875, prepared some rules under the Orders of the Local Government Board of 1870, in reference to boarding-out of children; and if those rules had been properly attended to, this lamentable occurrence would not have taken place. One of those rules was that no child should live more than two miles distant from the school or the church. That rule had been entirely neglected, as these children were sent to live at least 2 ½ miles away, and they never went to the school or the church. A gentleman connected with the Union, who was the only visitor in the district, requested the relieving officer to report upon the condition of the children. He did, accordingly, report for one or two quarters, and then made no further inquiry. The subject of boarding-out had undergone much inquiry by the Local Government Department. The system had been urged upon the Government, but there was some difficulty in framing the Orders. Two Orders of 1870 dealt with the matter—one Order related to boarding-out within the Union, and the other related to it without the Union. At present, there were 306 children boarded out without the Union, and 2,095 boarded out within the Union. Where they were boarded out without the Union, it was a much better system, as certain things had to be done in compliance with the regulations of the Local Government Board—for example, the parties were called upon to give an undertaking that the children should be well loked after; and they were also under the inspection of the Visiting Committee. But where the children were boarded out within the Union, the Guardians were paramount, and the Local Government Board could not interfere with the arrangements made. He might state that the subject of boarding-out was one which had much engaged the attention of the Local Government Board, and the Inspectors had been called upon to report as to the 811 soundness of the system. In some cases, the Reports were satisfactory, and in others not so; and in those cases the Guardians had been ordered to take the children back to the workhouse in order to their being properly cared for. There had been considerable difficulty in drawing up in detail the proper Orders in respect of boarding-out within the Union; but he believed that his right hon. Friend had now overcome that difficulty. He had issued an Order to all the Local Government Board Inspectors, asking for their comments upon it, and to point out whether they thought the Order would work well or not. His right hon. Friend was now waiting for the Inspectors' Reports, and as soon as he received them the Order would be put into a practical form, and it was hoped would prevent the recurrence of such a lamentable case to that to which the noble Lord had called attention.