§ 52. Captain Pluggeasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many policewomen are enrolled in London; how many more are needed; and how many women have volunteered to serve.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Peake)The number of attested women police in the Metropolitan Police District is 175. Four recruits are about to undergo a course of instruction, and one application for appointment is under consideration. Twenty more women are needed to bring the number up to the authorised establishment.
§ Mr. Godfrey NicholsonWhat action is taken to see that there are sufficient policewomen, not only in London but throughout the country?
§ Mr. PeakeThis Question applies only to the Metropolitan Police District, which has set a good example in this matter, but if my hon. Friend knows of any women suitable for this position, perhaps he would be good enough to bring the names to our attention.
Viscountess AstorIs it not true that the women of the country have been pressing for women police for the last five years, ever since the war began, and that we could have given the Minister plenty of good names, if the Government had had the intelligence and the vision to ask for them?
§ Mr. George GriffithsThe noble Lady would make a good one.