§ Mr. C. BATHURSTasked the Secretary to the Treasury why the Insurance Commissioners have declined to approve the adoption in Gloucestershire of the same scheme of district health insurance committees which they have approved for the adjoining county of Somerset; and whether, in view of the unanimity of the county insurance committee after careful consideration as to its suitability to local conditions and of the formation after con- 1403W siderable difficulty of district committees under such scheme, the Commissioners will reconsider their decision?
§ Mr. MASTERMANThe hon. Member is under a misapprehension. The scheme for the constitution of district committees submitted by the insurance committee for the county of Somerset has not been formally approved. The Commissioners intimated that they were prepared to approve the scheme in substance, but both that scheme and the similar scheme subsequently prepared by the Gloucester Insurance Committee need amendment in certain matters of detail. In the case of Somerset the insurance committee have already accepted the amendments suggested by the Commissioners, and the scheme will be approved forthwith; and I do not anticipate that any difficulty will occur in the case of the Gloucester scheme.