§ Mr. GROVESasked the Minister of Health if he has received representations from the West Ham Board of Guardians for the power to grant to persons in receipt of relief one hundredweight of coal weekly in winter and half a hundredweight in summer; and whether he is prepared at once to give the necessary financial assistance to the West Ham Union to enable it to carry out any such schemes?
§ Mr. WHEATLEYI understand that the guardians' proposal is to continue the winter coal allowance during the summer. As this would be virtually an increase of the scale of relief, and it has been a condition of the loans advanced to these guardians that the existing scale of relief should not be increased, I obviously could not entertain the proposals.