Poor Relief - Law Commission

despatch the drunken, idle or disorderly poor to the house of industry;
Clerk to keep a book of delinquents; power to return vagrants to their
place of settlement (Sections 27 – 29)
(k) poor children to be maintained in the workhouse until the age of 14 and
may be apprenticed out for seven years or until the age of 18 (for a boy)
or until the age of 18 or marriage (for a girl); such apprentices not to be
assigned to anyone else without the consent of the Directors; poor
children and adults may be farmed out; punishment of the poor for failure
to return from work outside the house of industry; Justices to settle
disputes between the Directors and those hiring the poor (Sections 30 -
31)
(l) workhouse goods and chattels to be vested in the Directors; damaging or
receiving workhouse property punishable offences (Section 32)
(m) Directors to appoint Constables to facilitate the more effectual execution
of this Act (Section 33)
(n) lawful for the Directors to borrow money, not exceeding £5000, to be
repaid out of the parish rates; form of mortgage; securities may be
transferred; form of transfer; public notice of money borrowed to be given;
provisions for how mortgages to be discharged (Sections 34 - 36)
(o) power to raise funds for paying the interest on the money borrowed and to
defray the costs of maintaining the poor through parish rates for the relief
of the poor; Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor to collect the
rates; rates to be levied in the same manner as the poor relief had
previously been collected; money arising under the poor rates shall be
collected by the Overseers of the Poor and paid to the Treasurer;
punishment of Overseers for failing to collect the rates or render accounts;
provided that the rates do not exceed the average money rated for the
previous 3 years (Sections 37 -40)
(p) Treasurer to keep accounts; provision for this Act to cease if the annual
expenditure exceeds £1099 (Sections 41 – 42)
(q) provision for the previous year’s rates to be continued if the Directors fail
to make an assessment; all parish officers to assist in the execution of this
Act; penalty for failure to do so; parish officers may raise money for
purposes besides those set out in this Act provided an account of such
sums raised is kept; penalty for failure to keep accounts; provision for
one-off payments to provide relief for the poor (Sections 45 – 47)
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