§ Mr. R. Gibsonasked the Minister of Labour whether he has had under consideration the under-nourishment among unemployed persons and their dependants in Greenock and elsewhere; and what steps he proposes to take to remedy this evil?
§ Mr. ElliotThe Department of Health has made periodic investigations into the nutritional state of the people in certain parts of Scotland where unemployment has been serious. The Department's investigators have formed the opinion that the nutritional state of the unemployed is not sensibly inferior to that of the employed. As regards the second part of the question, I would remind the hon. and learned Member that local authorities have powers in necessitous cases to provide food and milk to mothers and infants under the Maternity and Child Welfare Schemes, and milk to school children under the Milk-in-Schools Scheme.