§ 14. Brigadier-General SPEARSasked the Home Secretary how many cases of imprisonment for sleeping out there have been in the last 12 months and the length of the sentences inflicted?
§ Sir J. GILMOURAs the answer contains a number of figures, I will, with the hon. and gallant Member's permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following is the statement:
§ A special return which has been obtained shows that during the last 12 1644 months 271 persons were received into prison on conviction under Section 4 of the Vagrancy Act, 1824, of wandering abroad and lodging in barns, etc., or in the open, without visible means of subsistence. The length of the sentences Was:
| 7 days or less | … | 91 |
| 14 days and over 7 days | … | 83 |
| 1 month and over 14 days | … | 72 |
| 2 months and over 1 month | … | 7 |
| 3 months and over 2 months | … | 18 |
§ There has been a great decrease in the number of these cases. The number of persons charged with this offence during 1931, the last year for which complete figures are available, was 1,612 as compared with an annual average of 2,163 for the period 1925–29 and 8,594 for the period 1910–14.