SIR WALTER FOSTER (Derbyshire, Ilkeston)To ask the President of the Local Government Board whether his attention has been called to a case of flogging at the Cottage Homes at Wednes-field, in which the medical officer described the back of the boy as covered with weals and abrasions from the nape of the neck to the back of the knees; whether he can state the character of the birch rod used, and if it was of the regulation pattern and weight; and whether steps will be taken to prevent such punishments being inflicted on young persons in Poor Law institutions in future.
(Answered by Mr. Waller Long.) My attention has been called to this case and I have communicated with the guardians of the Wolverhampton Union with respect to it. The Cottage Homes Committee of the guardians have investigated the matter, and I understand that at the inquiry held by them the police medical officer, acting for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, described the condition of the boy's back in the sense stated in the Question. I am informed that the birch used was similar to that used by the police and that the weight of the instrument is four and a half ounces. The regulations made by the Local Government Board with respect to these homes, whilst allowing corporal punishment in the case of boys, provide that no punishment shall be inflicted with any instrument which has not been approved by the guardians or the committee, but it would seem that there is no record of the approval having been given to the birch used in the present 1292 instance. The guardians have censured the officer by whom the punishment was given, and have adopted the report of the committee, which recommends that the use of the birch as an instrument of punishment shall be abolished, and which contains other suggestions with a view to preventing excessive chastisement in future. The action taken by them will, I hope, have the effect desired.