This is the Ministry of Health Circular sent out to Boards of Guardians in England and Wales on 5 May 1926, advising them that it was unlawful to give unemployment benefit or other relief to strikers. The circular cites a Court of Appeal judgment in a case relating to Merthyr Tydfil, Wales in 1900. Guardians were allowed to help dependants of strikers if they were destitute, providing that half of the relief was in kind, i.e. communal meals.
Poor Law Unions were established under the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 and administered by a local Board of Guardians. The majority of Unions continued in operation until 1930, when they were replaced by local authority Public Assistance Committees. After 1945 the Poor Laws were replaced by the Welfare State.
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