§ Mr. Aylesasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many inmates of His Majesty's prisons have been certified insane in each of the last three years; and in how many cases the certification has borne the signature of a doctor unconnected with prison administration.
§ Mr. Ede:The figures are as follow:
1943. 1944. 1945. Prisons … 66 65 70 Borstals … 3 Nil 8 — — — Total … 69 65 78 … … … Section 2 of the Criminal Lunatic Act, 1884, requires that a certificate of insanity in such cases shall be signed by two medical practitioners. If there are two medical officers on the prison staff, the certificate is usually signed by them, but in most prisons there is only one medical officer, and in these cases the certificate is ordinarily signed by the medical officer and by a doctor called in from outside the prison. It would not be possible without extensive research to obtain the information asked for in the last part of the Question.