§ Rear-Admiral Beamishasked the Minister of Health if he will discontinue or modify the system of inquiring what amount a local authority has received or been promised by way of contribution from owners of land and properties which will benefit by the extension of water mains and sewers before he will approve such works or applications for loans and grants to carry them out, and thus hasten the supply of water and the provision of sewers in areas where such works may not be economic.
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§ Mr. WillinkSuch inquiries are not normally made in the case of extensions of domestic water supplies. The duty of local authorities under the Public Health Act, 1936, to provide sewers extends only to the provision of sewers to serve existing houses; there is no legal obligation on them to provide sewers in anticipation of development. In these circumstances I see no reason for departing from the existing practice of encouraging local authorities to obtain contributions from owners of undeveloped land which will benefit from projected sewers.
§ Rear-Admiral Beamishasked the Minister of Health if he is aware that some rural local authorities who have provided a water main covering large parts of their district are handicapped in getting main water laid on to a house in cases where there is either an inadequate or unwholesome supply from other sources; and whether he will arrange for the last paragraph in Sub-section 3 of Section 138 of the Public Health Act, 1936, to be amended so as to increase the amount payable by an owner to a sum exceeding £20 per house which sum is often inadequate.
§ Mr. WillinkThe amount payable by an owner was increased to £20 per house from a much lower figure so recently as 1936. Section 3 of the Rural Water Supplies and Sewerage Act, 1944, should operate to reduce the cost of connections when that Act comes into effective operation after the end of the war in Europe.
§ Mr. E. Granvilleasked the Minister of Health if he is aware that out of 238 houses in the village of Mendlesham, Suffolk, 224 share public pumps and 208 have to fetch their water from 200 feet to a mile away; that the public supply has frequently failed during the past year; that because of the shallow lavatory pail sewage drainage system the school which caters for 130 children is in danger of serious epidemics; whether he has considered a resolution from the Mendlesham Women's Institute on this subject; and will he take steps to ensure that a piped supply of water, already close to the village, is extended in order to provide reasonable amenities for the inhabitants.
§ Mr. WillinkI am aware that the existing conditions in the village of Mendlesham are not satisfactory. I understand that the Hartismere Rural District Council have prepared a scheme for the pro-994W vision of piped supplies for this village after the war. In accordance with the general policy of limiting the execution of works as far as practicable to those which are essential for immediate war purposes, the further extension and improvement of public water supplies must normally await the defeat of Germany. I do not feel justified in treating the present case exceptionally.