| Description | The Relief Committee was founded in 1898, following a report to the Guardians by a Special Committee, regarding the provision of outdoor relief within the Union. Previously, the Union had no fixed Standing Orders or Rules regarding out-relief, with the result that King's Norton's level of outdoor payments was far higher than the neighbouring Unions of Aston and Birmingham. In an attempt to reduce this expense, bring about uniformity throughout the Union's three relief districts and, in the words of the report (included in GP KN/2/1/35), 'prevent, as far as possible, any undeserving case obtaining out-relief', the Guardians followed the advice of the Special Committee in adopting Standing Orders for out-relief, and appointing a Relief Committee to administer the system. The Committee was to have ten Guardians as members, and was to meet fortnightly at the Union Workhouse. Furthermore, 'such committee [was] not to deviate from the Standing Orders or Rules' (see GP KN/2/1/35), although some latitude was allowed for exceptional cases.
The Committee's main task was to examine the records of the Relieving Officers, and ensure that the level of out-door relief remained at the provisional level set at the previous meeting. The minutes do not contain these figures, as they were included in the Relieving Officer's own records - and the only surviving volumes for King's Norton Union date from 1849 and 1851, long before the setting up of the Committee (see GP KN/25, below). The minutes do include regular comparative figures, showing the change in the number of out-door poor from year to year. Perhaps unsurprisingly, these figures reflect the reduction in numbers that the Committee was set up to achieve. References to individual applications for relief are also given. Unless stated otherwise, the volumes are not indexed. |