§ 57. Dame Patricia Hornsby-Smithasked the Minister of Health what representations have been made to the Registrar General about the suggested closure of the Registration Office at Sidcup Hill, Sidcup, in respect of the registration of births and deaths; if he is aware that this office serves some 60,000 residents between the A.2 and the A.20, that the alternative office suggested at Brampton Road, Bexley, is nearly four miles from Sidcup and involves crossing the A.2, that Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup, now being re-built to house 600 patients, covers a catchment area which includes a considerable part of the new Bromley division, and that births or deaths occurring in Queen Mary's would necessitate relations travelling from Chislehurst and Mottingham to Bexley to make the registration; and, in view of the hardship and inconvenience that would be caused, if he will give an assurance 182W that the registration office in Sidcup will not be closed.
§ Mr. LoughlinWe are satisfied that the amount of work in the London Borough of Bexley will not at first justify the appointment of more than two registrars. No representations were received against the borough council's scheme determining the location of its offices. My right hon. Friend has therefore approved it but he would expect a third office to be opened when the expansion of Queen Mary's Hospital justifies it.