§ 2. Mr. DAYasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called to the evidence given in a recent case in which it 1366 was stated that taximeter cabs in garages are used for sleeping in at night by home-less persons; and whether there are any regulations making it incumbent upon the proprietors of taximeter cabs to have them regularly disinfected?
§ THE SECRETARY of STATE for the HOME DEPARTMENT (Sir William Joynson-Hicks)As the reply is long I will, with the honourable Member's permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYMay I take it that the right hon. Gentleman is going to take no steps in order to deprive these poor waifs of this night shelter?
§ Sir W. JOYNSON-HICKSIf the hon. and gallant Member will wait and see the answer to-morrow, I think he will find it satisfactory.
§ Following is the reply:
§ Inquiry has been made at the garages of motor-cab proprietors, and it has been ascertained that the use of taxicabs for sleeping in at night or for any unauthorised purpose is not countenanced by the proprietors of these vehicles. If it is done, it is done without their knowledge or consent. The disinfection of taxicabs is not a requirement in the Commissioner's Conditions of Fitness, but it is required by law when the vehicle is known to have conveyed a person suffering with an infectious disease. It is the general practice for proprietors to brush and dust the interiors of the cabs before they are taken from the garages to ply for hire, and in many cases it is known that the linings and cushions are sprayed with some form of disinfectant and the floors scrubbed with soft soap and hot water. Motor cabs are continually under the surveillance of public carriage officers and numerous cases are reported by them annually where it is considered that the interiors of cabs are unsuitable in the public interest from the point of view of cleanliness.