§ MR. WEDGWOODI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state the number of boys and girls who were under detention in industrial schools on 1st January, 1908, and how many of these were under six and between six and ten; and if he will say at what age the boys are separated from the girls, and what female care is subsequently provided for the boys.
§ MR. GLADSTONEThe number of children in industrial schools in England and Wales on the 1st January, 1908, was 11,508 (8,789 boys and 2,719 girls) of whom 102 (48 boys and 54 girls) were under six years of age, and 1,187 31 (755 boys and 432 girls) were between six and ten. There is now only one mixed school in England, and even there the boys and girls are in separate class-rooms and play-grounds, and are housed in separate, though contiguous buildings. In all shore schools for boys there is provision for female care whether in the form of matrons or trained nurses.