§ VISCOUNT TEMPLEWOODasked His Majesty's Government in what prisons (English and Scottish) capital executions have been carried out in the last three years; whether the execution shed is in every case separate from the other prison buildings; whether condemned cells are exclusively kept for prisoners condemned to death, and whether they are invariably imprisoned in a separate block, and in what respect their treatment varies from that of other prisoners.
§ THE LORD CHANCELLOR (VISCOUNT JOWITT)During the past three years executions have been carried out in England and Wales at the following prisons: Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Durham, Leeds, Lincoln, Liverpool, Manchester, Norwich, Oxford, Pentonville, Swansea, Wandsworth and Winchester. In Scotland one execution was carried out at Perth.
1041WAIt is not practicable in every case to arrange for the condemned cell or the execution shed to be separate from the other prison buildings. No prisoners other than those condemned to death are kept in condemned cells. The treatment of prisoners under sentence of death is governed in England and Wales by the Prison Rules, 1949, Rules 143–145, and in Scotland by the Prison (Scotland) Rules, 1947, Rules 168–170. Certain ameliorations of conditions, such as extra or adjusted diet, a pint of beer daily, if desired, and facilities for smoking, are allowed in English and Scottish prisons, at the discretion of the medical officer, and various games, such as chess, cards and dominoes are available for use by condemned prisoners.