§ Sir L. Lyleasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will state the terms of the Order making compulsory the employment of policewomen in all towns; whether he has taken into consideration the position in this respect of local authorities who do not agree; and how far policewomen are to be employed in morality duties.
§ Mr. H. MorrisonThe action I have taken has not been by means of a hard and fast Order but, as I explained in my reply to the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Mr. Lipson) on 6th April, I have called the attention of police authorities to the need for an adequate number of policewomen in those parts of the country where large numbers of troops are concentrated. Experience has shown that much valuable work can be done by policewomen in checking misbehaviour and exercising a restraining influence; and while, as I stated in my reply of 6th April, we must in the main rely on other agencies than the police for the inculcation of standards of conduct, this is not a reason for omission on the part of any police authority to appoint policewomen to deal with those aspects of the problem created by war conditions with which the police can properly concern themselves.