§ Mr. R. RICHARDSONasked the Minister of Health whether, as five starvation deaths have been reported to him in 1920 from Durham and only one in Yorkshire, he will apply to the coroners of Durham for a full account of all the starvation deaths which have occurred in Durham for the years 1920 and 1921; whether he will cause his inspector to make careful inquiries and will publish a full report of the inquests and of the inspector's inquiries; whether he is aware that the statistics show that the number of such deaths in Durham for some years before the War have been out of proportion to its population; that in one London union an enormous decrease of deaths occurred in consequence of the earnest endeavours of the guardians and their officers, and of their taking certain steps; whether his inspector has given 1362W any explanation of the numbers of these Durham deaths; whether he has made any endeavour to reduce them; if so, what were the explanations and endeavours; whether he will give the numbers of the starvation deaths which have ben reported to him for London, the provinces, and Northumberland, respectively, for the year 1920, so that the numbers may be compared with those of Durham; and what casual wards in Durham were closed during the War and have not been re-opened?
§ Sir A. MONDI am obtaining a special report on the deaths reported as caused by starvation or exposure in the year 1920 in the County of Durham. The number of such deaths in the same year were: In London, 4; in Northumberland, none; and in the provinces, as a whole, 28. The only casual wards in the county which are now closed are the Durham and Auckland Wards.