§ SIR MICHAEL HICKS-BEACHasked the Secretary to the Poor Law Board, How many unions are provided, at the present time, with vagrant wards which have been reported upon by the Poor Law Inspectors as satisfactory; in how many cases such wards have been built with separate cells; and what has been, in such cases, the cost per cell?
§ MR. HIBBERTreplied that he could not give the information as to the total 1385 number of Unions in England and Wales, but he could give it as to 482 of them. Of these 482, there were 374 which had vagrant wards which were considered sufficient, 61 had wards which were considered insufficient, and there were 47 which had no vagrant wards at all. It was stated that in the metropolis 30 parishes had provided wards which were reported as satisfactory. As to the second part of the Question of the hon. Baronet, so far as the latest information went, there were only 13 Unions which had separate cells for vagrants; these Unions were spread over various parts of the country, and the experience of having separate wards had been uniformly satisfactory in decreasing the number of vagrants in those places. He could not state what had been the cost.
§ SIR MICHAEL HICKS-BEACHinquired whether the Unions included those in the metropolis; and whether, amongst the 13 which have separate cells, there are any which are in the metropolis?
§ MR. HIBBERTOf the 13 Unions none were in the metropolis, but the 482 included those in London. Perhaps the hon. Member would be gratified to hear that the Report of the Poor Law Inspector as to the Eastbourne Union said that such a system had been introduced there; that in the first year the number of vagrants had been reduced by 836 as compared with the previous year; and that the person in charge of the vagrant ward said that the professional tramps objected strongly to the system, whilst the honest wayfarers strongly expressed their approval of it.