§ SIR R. FOWLER (London)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what further progress has been made during the past year in the improvement of the accommodation for persons awaiting trial at Police and Assize Courts; and, what are the localities in which no special improvement has taken place in this respect?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. MATTHEWS,) Birmingham, E.With regard to Sessions and Assize Courts in England, I am glad to inform my hon. Friend that as the result of correspondence during the last year there are 26 additional places in which the accommodation may now be regarded as satisfactory, bringing up the total number of such places to 145. There are 42 places in which improvement is desirable, and correspondence is still going on with hopes that a satisfactory result will shortly be arrived at. There are two cases in which the Local Authority have have failed to comply with requirements of the Secretary of State. I hope my hon. Friend will not ask me to name them publicly, as I trust the force of example may still influence them in the right direction. With regard to Police Courts I am not able to give complete explanations within the limits of an answer; but I can assure my hon. Friend that substantial progress is being made, especially in the Metropolis.
§ SIR R. FOWLERI beg to ask the Lord Advocate what progress has 29 recently been made in improving the accommodation for persons awaiting trial at Police and Assize Courts in Scotland?
§ *THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. J. P. B. ROBERTSON,) ButeAs my hon. Friend is possibly aware, a Report was made to the Secretary for Scotland by a Departmental Committee, appointed to inquire into this matter. Following upon this Report communications were addressed to the responsible authorities of those Court-houses specially named in the Report as requiring alterations. In certain cases the Secretary for Scotland has been informed that the necessary alterations have already been carried out.