Mr. C. WILSONasked the Minister of Health whether he can state for the years 1913–14 and 1922–23 the average cost per head of children in children's homes and children boarded out; the average cost per head of indoor relief in the case of the aged, the sick, the able-bodied, and the insane; and the average cost per head in asylums?
§ Mr. WHEATLEYThe average weekly cost per head in 1922–23 of children in separate establishments for children in England and Wales in respect of in-maintenance (i.e., for food, clothing, and necessaries, but excluding the cost of officers' salaries and rations, buildings and loan charges) was, in those institutions for which separate accounts were kept, 8s. 8¼d. The average weekly cost per head of children boarded out in the same year was 10s. 9d. I regret that similar figures are not available for the 81W year 1913–14. The average cost per head of indoor relief in the case of the aged, the sick, the able-bodied, and the insane, cannot be given separately for either of the years in question, but the average weekly cost per head for all classes of persons receiving indoor relief was, in the year 1913–14, 13s. 2¾d., and in the year 1921–22, 31s. 0¾d. The average weekly cost per head for maintenance of patients in county and county borough mental hospitals in England and Wales was for the year 1913–14 10s. 9 1–8d. and for the year 1922–23 23s. 9¼d.