§ Mr. Cordleasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proportion of the total qualified nursing staff in Bournemouth hospitals consists of agency nurses.
§ Mr. MeacherFollowing are the figures:
resident in Scotland, who wish to obtain temporary employment in North America, to travel at their own expense to Bow Street Magistrate's Court in London in order to complete the necessary formalities; and if, in view of the fact that Scotland has its own legal system, she will seek to amend the present requirements to enable Scottish citizens to obtain such papers at a court in Scotland.
§ Dr. OwenI understand that the hon. Member is referring to the provisions of Section 25 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 which make it illegal for a person under 18 years of age to go 413W abroad for the purpose of performing for profit unless a licence has been granted for him to do so by a police magistrate. Section 25(10) extends this provision to Scotland, and Section 25(9) defines a police magistrate as the chief magistrate of the metropolitan police courts, any magistrate of the metropolitan police court in Bow Street, or any stipendiary magistrate, appointed by Order-in-Council to exercise this jurisdiction. No Order-in-Council has been made to appoint stipendiary magistrates outside London for this purpose, and all cases are, and have been since 1933, dealt with at Bow Street. This is because there are relatively few applications from persons living far from London, and these come from all over the country and are not concentrated at a few centres. Since January 1963 there have been 10 applications from Scotland. Any degree of decentralisation would mean that any stipendiary magistrates outside London who were given this jurisdiction would have very few cases to deal with, and thus little opportunity to gain 414W experience of the considerations involved, of the various conditions and restrictions that may be used to safeguard the young persons concerned, and of the procedures. I understand that it is within the discretion of the magistrate at Bow Street to require the personal attendance of the applicant before a licence is granted. I will, however, confer with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland about enabling residents in Scotland to obtain licences from a Scottish court.