HC Deb 04 July 1968 vol 767 cc1667-9
9. Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why he has decided to close the Women's Remand Centre in the Midlands: and what alternative arrangements are being made.

32. Mrs. Knight

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what alternative arrangements he has made for accommodation in the Midlands for women and girls on remand, following his decision to close Brockhill Remand Centre to females.

Mr. Callaghan

I have reluctantly decided that Brockhill remand centre must be closed because it has proved impossible to provide the necessary nursing supervision. Alternative remand accommodation is being used at Pucklechurch, Risley and Holloway and overnight accommodation will be provided at Shrewsbury.

Mrs. Short

Is my right hon. Friend aware that this remand centre was opened when Winson Green prison was closed for women precisely to prevent their having to be taken as far as Hollo-way? Is he aware that this is extremely inconvenient, both for relatives and solicitors, and that the closure has been condemned by magistrates, social workers and probation officers? Will he, please, look at this matter again and find an alternative solution?

Mr. Callaghan

I will gladly continue to look for an alternative solution, but I cannot at the moment go back upon the decision to close Brockhill. There has been much publicity about it. I had hopes that that might attract trained nursing staff. Some local inquiries have been stimulated by the publicity and the deferment of the decision, but, alas, we cannot get the nursing staff there. The care of these women must be our first concern.

Mrs. Knight

In view of the overwhelming concern expressed throughout the area concerning the closure, will not the Home Secretary recognise that the information which he has so far received about this matter should be outweighed by the representations of the people on the spot?

Mr. Callaghan

I do not think that it should be. I have responsibility for the women who are committed to my care, and they cannot have the proper nursing attention. Despite all the efforts which have been made, some very recently and some thanks to publicity given by my hon. Friend and the hon. Lady, we still have not been able to recruit the necessary nursing staff. Some of the patients concerned are emotionally and mentally disturbed. That must be my first care.

Mr. Dance

Is not the Home Secretary aware that nursing staff is available? One of the chief reasons why they do not come is that they have to walk about a mile and a half through a borstal centre. If there were a little more flexibility and taxis or some form of transport like that could be used, the Home Secretary could get nursing staff, both from Redditch and from Bromsgrove.

Mr. Callaghan

My information is not that of the hon. Member. A number of devices have been tried. I did not want to close the centre. It was started only three years ago, and it seems to me to be a failure that it now has to be closed, but I must have regard to the patients who are committed to my care.

Mrs. Knight

In view of the extremely unsatisfactory nature of the answers to the Question, I give notice that I shall seek to raise the matter at the earliest possible opportunity.