§ MR. PICKERSGILL (Bethnal Green, S.W.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many inebriate reformatories have been certified under the Inebriates Act, 1898, and how many of these have been established by county councils and borough 38 councils respectively; whether any inebriate reformatory has yet been certified for men; whether several cases have occurred in which men, who had been ordered by courts to be detained under the Act, had to be discharged because there was no institution to receive them; and, if so, what steps does he propose to take in order to prevent similar miscarriages in future; and whether any State inebriate reformatory has yet been established; and, if not, what temporary arrangements (if any) have been made for the reception of persons committed under section 1 of the Act?
THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENTThree inebriate reformatories have been certified. No local authority has yet established a reformatory; but several are, to my knowledge, actively considering the question, which, I need scarcely point out, is not one that can be settled in a day. There is as yet no certified reformatory for men; but, though I am officially aware of one case such as the honourable Member mentions in the third paragraph of his Question, and though there are probably a few others, I do not think I am called upon to take any steps. I am confident that magistrates will not, as a rule, commit persons under the Act until they know that provision exists for their reception into a reformatory. No State inebriate reformatory has been established; all the institutions already certified are, with one small exception, willing to receive persons committed under section 1 of the Act.