After meeting several times this committee came to the
conclusion that, in the light of the evidence that had been
given before them, it was not advisable for them to proceed
further without reference to the committee which was dealing
with the question of subsidiary health and kindred services,
as the question of the provision of Home Helps intimately
affected that committee also.
The committee on Home Helps passed the following resolution:
That with a view to preventing sickness which is caused by
the unavoidable neglect of children in their home, the Local
Government Board should be asked to remove the restriction
which at present confines the provision of Home Helps to
maternity cases, and to extend the scope of the board's grant
for the provision of such assistance in any home where, in
the opinion of the local authority, it is necessary in the
interests of the children that it should be given, and agreed
that if the Subsidiary Health and Kindred Services Committee
were prepared to adopt it in their report it would be
undesirable to continue their own sittings.
The resolution was adopted by that committee, and the Home
Helps' Committee was dissolved.
We are not unconscious of the great need that exists for
further preventive measures in connection with health
services, more especially as regards children, and we think
that the question of Home Helps must first be explored in
this connection. We are of the opinion, however, that as
regards help with domestic work, the position of the wives of
professional men with small incomes, and of the large army of
men of moderate means who are engaged in commerce and
industry is becoming critical, and that some form of
municipal service might help to solve this most difficult
problem.