§ Sir C. OMANasked the Minister of Health whether a Draft Order for regulation of casual wards has now been placed before him: whether the task of stone- 663W pounding is still imposed by some, and, if so, which, boards of guardians on casuals; will he alter the draft order so as to exclude stone-pounding, and either to exclude also stone-breaking or to make it a task of hours instead of amount; and will he let the amount of stone to be broken and size to which it is to be broken be prescribed by the council and not by a committee?
§ Mr. GREENWOODThe Draft Order to which the hon. Member refers is merely one consolidating the provisions of the large number of existing Poor Law Orders which are still operative and has been prepared to meet the coming changes in Poor Law administration. As regards the second part of the hon. Member's question, the task of stone-pounding is imposed by certain boards of guardians; it is one of several alternative tasks allowed by the existing regulations and my approval to its imposition is not required. I am not in a position to state which boards of guardians impose the task. As regards the third and fourth parts of the question, I have recently appointed a Departmental Committee to consider the administration of the law-relating to the relief of the casual poor and I propose to await their report before considering any alteration of the existing regulations on this subject.
Year ended 31st December. State-assisted houses completed. * Unassisted houses having a rateable value not exceeding £78. Total. By Local Authority. By Private Enterprise. Chatham. Gillingham. Chatham. Gillingham. Chatham. Gillingham. Chatham. Gillingham. 1919 … — — — — — — — — 1920 … — — — — — — — — 1921 … 52 105 — — — — 52 105 1922 … — 67 34† 16† — — 34 83 1923 … — — — — 119 91 119 91 1924 … — — 29 88 90 140 119 228 1925 … — — 49 164 23 94 72 258 1926 … 38 — 139 175 15 7 192 182 1927 … 168 96 119 208 14 82 301 386 1928 … — 112 42 159 26 34 68 305 1929 … 84 133 49 667 41 29 174 829 Totals … 342 513 461 1,477 328 477 1,131 2,467 * These figures are for years ending 30th September and are not available prior to 1st October, 1922. It is not possible to differentiate between houses erected by Local Authorities and those erected by Private Enterprise. † Completed under the Housing (Additional Powers) Act, 1919, between 1st April, 1920, and 31st December, 1922.