View report page

32
Food £650
Rates 75
Fuel and lighting 100
Laundry, telephone, etc. 75
£900
Staff 470
Total £1,370
A number of the girls would be able to contribute to their
cost of maintenance, but the net cost would probably be not less
than £1,000 per annum.
Should such a hostel be established and administered by the
local authorities, the appointment of a special welfare worker at
a salary of £300 per annum would be essential in my opinion.
Such a worker would act as liaison officer between the welfare
workers of the local Voluntary Associations and the hostel, and
would be responsible to the local authorities. The local authorities
would still require the present short stay accommodation of
the Voluntary Associations, especially in the pre-natal period, and
in view of their long experience of this type of work it would
appear to be an advantage to arrange with them to administer
the hostel and admit the cases from the contributory hostel
authorities. This method would have the additional advantage
that the appointment of the special social worker would not be
necessary. The local Welfare Authorities might exercise some
control on the administration by having a representative on the
Committee.
The Voluntary Associations appear to have very little capital
and the cost of establishing a hostel would fall almost entirely
on the local authorities, with grants on an agreed basis to be made
to the association and the financial position to be reviewed at the
end of twelve months working.
Small grants of £25 to £50 by individual local authorities
appear to be of little practical value in obtaining further hostel
accommodation, and until this need is met, the Voluntary Associations
would be able to achieve little more than they are
already doing.