§ MR. G. GREENWOODI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will direct inquiries to be made as to the accommodation provided for female prisoners awaiting trial at Vine Street Police Station; and whether the door of the lavatory for women under arrest at that station is provided with a spy-hole, and is situated in a corridor to which police constables and other mile persons have access.
§ *MR. HERBERT SAMUELPresent structural conditions at Vine Street preclude the provision of a separate set of cells for female prisoners, but whenever a woman is detained there, a matron is present in the cell passage throughout the period of detention. For obvious reasons, a small shuttered window is required in the lavatory door. The window is used only on occasions of emergency, and in the case of a female prisoner is used by the matron only. A scheme for the improvement of the administrative accommodation at this station is now in preparation.