§ Colonel Wedgwoodasked the Home Secretary (1) whether he is aware that the Committee for the Care of Children from Germany is not permitted to take children over 16 years of age unless the guarantor is prepared to deposit £50 for emigration at the age of 18 as well as keep the child for those two years, and that this tax upon charitably-minded people is prohibitive; and will he take steps to improve these conditions;
(2) how many German refugee children have been received into this country, boys and girls, under the licence scheme; how many of each sex have been taken into British homes, and how many are now left in camp; what guarantees of responsibility are now demanded from anyone willing to take a child; and are these guarantees imposed and determined by His Majesty's Government in consultation with the Jewish organisations?
§ Sir S. HoareUp to date 3,526 children (1,974 boys and 1,552 girls) have been brought to this country on the responsibility of the organisation known as The Movement for the Care of Children from Germany. Only 400 of these children, almost all boys, now remain in the arrival camp. Some hundreds are accommodated in hostels, a considerable number are working under agricultural training schemes, but the great majority have been placed in private households throughout the country. These children have been admitted on the undertaking of the Movement to be responsible for their maintenance and training in this country and for their emigration in due course.
788WAs regards about 1,900 of these children, the Movement has been able to assume through its own funds the financial obligation, but I understand the financial position of the Movement is now such that if provision is to be made for more children, it is necessary for the Movement to find guarantors who will accept responsibility for the child's maintenance and education until he reaches eighteen and for the cost of his emigration, estimated at £50.