Mr. BENNETTasked the Home Secretary why the post of women inspector of His Majesty's prisons has not been filled; what were the duties attached to it; and whether he intends to make a new appointment?
§ Mr. BRIDGEMANThis was one of the posts left vacant as a measure of economy. There are at present so many claims on the Exchequer on behalf of the prisons service that I am reluctant to ask for more money in order to fill this vacancy. The duty of the women inspector was to inspect and report on prisons where women were confined, but the position has been changed first by the appointment of a number of women magistrates to the Visiting Committees of Prisons, and secondly by the decrease in the numbers of women in custody.