§ 17. Mr. Gageasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many escapes were made from approved schools during the period 1st January to 31st December, 1946; the average time between escape and recapture; and the total number of crimes known to have been committed by inmates during such periods of escape.
§ Mr. EdeApproved Schools are not closed institutions, and no central record is kept of occasions when a boy or girl is absent without leave for part of a day. The cases in which an absconder was absent for at least one night amounted in the course of the year to 3,318. I regret that the further information asked for is not available.