§ 89. Mrs. Braddockasked the Minister of National Insurance if, in view of the number of deaths in Liverpool of aged persons, and the inability of the local welfare departments to give assistance due to the fact that the National Assistance Board are not compelled to give information concerning aged persons in receipt of supplementary allowances, she will reconsider the problem with a view to these details being supplied to local welfare authorities, and to avoiding many old persons being found dead in their homes before assistance can reach them.
§ Dr. SummerskillI have every sympathy with my hon. Friend's anxieties but I do not think her suggestion is feasible. These tragedies are commonly due to sudden illness or accident and a register on the lines suggested would do little to bring them to notice. All pensioners would have to be included and the obvious objections to a scheme for the compulsory registration of old people would, I think, outweigh the advantages.