§ Sir R. BLAIRasked the Minister of Health if his attention has been called to a case heard at the Thames Police Court on the 4th instant, where a man whose average wage, including periods of unemployment, was £8 4s. 6d. a week was charged at the instance of the Poplar Borough Council and sentenced to a term of hard labour for attempting to obtain free milk by false pretences; have other cases been brought to the notice of the Stepney Borough Council; and will he order an investigation to be made as to the method of distribution of free milk by the Stepney Council and make adequate regulations for the protection of the ratepayers?
§ Sir A. MONDThe answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. There have been other cases in which the Poplar Borough Council have taken legal action successfully, and I understand that similar action is pending in certain cases in Stepney. The method of distribution of milk in Stepney has already been specially investigated by my officers, and a revised scheme has been approved. The whole question of milk distribution was dealt with in a recent circular, a copy of which I will send to my hon. Friend.