Mr. PIKE PEASEasked the President of the Local Government Board whether he can state the total cost of pauper lunacy for the twenty-five years ending March, 1910, and the total cost of asylum buildings for the fifteen years ending March, 1910?
§ Mr. BURNSThe precise figures asked for are not available, but the following particulars give substantially the information desired: The expenditure of local authorities in England and Wales on lunatics and lunatic asylums for the twenty-five years ended March, 1909, was approximately £71,500,000. This would include expenditure on all classes of lunatics (private patients as well as paupers); but pauper lunatics form a very large majority of the patients in the local authorities' asylums. According to the annual reports of the Lunacy Commissioners, the expenditure on these,i.e., county and borough, asylum buildings (including land purchase) amounted to £9,698,000 in the fifteen years ended March, 1909. The total cost incurred by Poor Law authorities in respect of all lunatics who are paupers cannot be given; but the total amount paid by guardians during the twenty-five years ended March, 1909, for the cost of maintenance of pauper lunatics in county and borough asylums, registered hospitals, and licensed houses was £42,784,000. This sum is, of course, to a large extent a duplication of the maintenance expenses already included in the sum of £71,500,000 specified above.