§ 42. Mr. Haleasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state types of work available in Her Majesty's Prisons to persons in custody on remand awaiting trial and who desire to work.
§ Mr. R. A. ButlerUntried prisoners who desire to work are employed on the manufacture and repair of mailbags. Since untried prisoners must be kept apart from convicted prisoners, this very narrowly limits the work that can be made available to them.
§ Mr. HaleIs it not singularly unfortunate that the most humilitating of all the occupations in prison is the only one available to people who have not been convicted, if they wish to occupy their time? Will the right hon. Gentleman reconsider the whole question of providing work in prisons, and also the question of providing executive officers at decent salaries to reorganise and plan the types of work that are made available?
§ Mr. ButlerYes, Sir; this is one aspect of penal reform which I have already in my mind, and about which I have formed some ideas. The difficulty with untried prisoners is that we cannot fit them easily into the normal workshop routine, and there is no time to train them for semiskilled work. I realise the difficulty, and the whole question of work is under examination.