In Parliament
| Published date | 01 March 1947 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455054700500807 |
| Date | 01 March 1947 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
105
IN
PARLIAMENT
BORSTAL
The
Home
Secretary
stated
that
on
December
10th
there
were
2,393
boys
and
205
girls
in
Borstal
training
institu-
tions,
and
467
boys
and
25
girls
in
Borstal
reception
centres.
On
the
subject
off
re-conviction
after
discharge
from
Borstal
institutions,
Mr.
Ede
gave
the
following
figures
of
boys
re-convicted
up
to
September,
1946:
The
1939
figures
were
abnormal,
due
to
the
release
on
the
outbreak
of
war
of
all
Borstal
inmates
who
had
served
not
less
than
six
months.
Many
had
not
completed
their
training
,and
would
not
have
been
released
so
early
but
for
the
nec~essity
of
reducing
the
risk
to
persons
in
custody.
For
girls,
the
available
figures
of
re-conviction
are
up
to
December,
1943,
only and
are:
These
1939
figures
are
subject
to
the
same
comment
as
above
in
the
case of
boys.
MAGISTR.ATES’
COURTS
(EVENING
SITTINGS)
Mr.
Garry
Allighan
asked
the
Secretary
of
State
for
the
Home
Department
to
what
extent
regulations
of
his
Department
prevented
magistrates’
courts
being
held
during
eventing
hours;
and
whether
he
would
draw
attention
to
the
desirability
of
evening
sittings.
The
Secretary
of
State
for
the
Home
Department,
Mr.
Ede,
replied
that
it
was
for
the
justices
in
each
division
to
arrange
,at
what
times
they
would
sit,
and
there
were
no
Home
Office
Regulations
to
hinder
evening
sittings.
He
would
be
glad
to
see
further
use
made
of
the
power
to
arrange
such
sittings
in
places
where
they
would
suit
local
convenience.
CORPORA
PUNISHMENT
IN
HOMES
AND
SCHOOLS
Mr.
R.
W.
Sorensen
asked
the
Secretary
of
State
for
the
Home
Department
how
many
inmates
in
remand
homes
or
approved
schools
were
punished
by
four
or
more
strokes
in
corporal
punishment
during
the
last
quarter
of
1946.
In
reply,
the
Minister
gave
the
following
figures:
&dquo;One
hundred
and
twenty
boys
(on
129
occasions)
in
remand
homes
and,
apart
from
schoolroom
canings,
649
boys
(on
747
occasions)
in
approved
schools.&dquo;
In
a
supplementary
question,
Mr.
Sorensen
asked
whether
the
Minister
was aware
that
both
proportionately
and
absolutely
there
were
fewer
inflictions
of
corporal
punishment
in
prisons
and
Borstal
institutions
than
in
remand
homes
or
approved
schools;
and
would
he,
there-
fore,
give
special
attention
to
the
question.
Mr.
Ede
replied
in
the
affi_rmative.
He
was,
however,
reluctant
to
do
anything
that
would
encourage
some
of
the
intellectual
tortures
that
some
people
proposed
to
substitute
for
caning.
JUSTICES’
CLERKS
(FUNCTIONS)
Mr.
V.
F.
Yates
asked
the
Secretary
of
State
for
the
Home
Department
what
steps
he
took,
by
circularising
magistrates
or
otherwise,
to
ensure
that
magistrates’
clerks
were
never
permitted
to
act
other
than
in
an
advisory
capacity.
Mr.
Ede
replied
that
he
understood
that
Mr.
Yates
had
in
mind
the
question
of
expressions
of
opinion
by
clerks
to
justices
about
the
policy
embodied
in
laws
or
regula-
tions
under
which
proceedings
were
taken
before
the
magistrates.
The
conduct
of
a
clerk
in
court
was
a
matter
for
the
magistrates,
whose
servant
he
was.
He
had
no
reason
to
think
that
magistrates
were
not
fully
aware
of
their
responsibilities
in
that
matter,
and
he
did
not
consider
that
any
suggestions
on
his
part
were
required
to
inform
them
of
those
responsibilities.
Mr.
Yates
then
asked
the
Minister
if
he
thought
that
specific
advice
should
be
tendered
to
the
magistrates’
clerk.
Mr.
Ede
replied
in
the
negative.
He
thought
the
duty
of
controlling
the
clerk
must
rest
with
the
magistrates,
and,
when
in
court,
particularly
with
the
chairman.
He
hoped
that
the
publicity
which
Mr.
Yates’
question
had
given
to
the
matter
would
encourage
some
of
those
people
in
suitable
cases
to
correct
the
clerk
when
he
interfere
unduly
with
the
course
of
justice.
Mr.
Hector
Hughes
asked
whether
the
Minister
was
aware
that,
in
some
instances,
the
clerk
retired
with
the
justices
to
their
room
and
took
part
in
their
deliberations.
In
reply,
Mr.
Ede
said
that
the
magistrates’
clerk
should
not
retire
with
the
magistrates
unless
requested
to
do
so
by
the
bench.
If
he
did
so,
in
his
own
interests,
he
should
confine
such
remarks
as
he
made
to
advice
on
points
of
law
that
might
arise.
What
went
on
in
the
magistrates’
room
was
secret,
and,
as
a
magistrate
himself,
he
knew
that
the
habits
of
clerks
differed in
that
matter,
but
it
was
the
duty
of
the
magistrates,
if
the
clerk
presumed
on
his
position,
to
put
him
in
his
proper
place.
APPROVED
SCHOOLS
Dr. Stross
asked
the
Secretary
of
State
for
the
Home
Department
how
many
young
persons
detained
in
approved
schools
had,
in
the
past
five
years,
been
com-
mitted
to
Borstal
under
Clause
82
of
the
Children
and
Young
Persons
Act;
how
many
of
them
had
been
com-
mitted
for
criminal
offences
and
because
of
criminal
tendencies;
and
how
many
for
escaping
from
school
or
similar
non-criminal
acts.
The
Secretary
of
State
for
the
Home
Department,
Mr.
Ede,
replied
that
659
boys
and
374
girls
had
been
detained.
The
power
of
the
courts
to
commit
young
persons
of
16
or
over
to
Borstal
under
Clause
82
of
the
Children
and
Young
Persons
Act
was
limited
to
cases
of
absconding
and
refusal
to
return
to
the
school,
but
he
understood
310
boys
and
62
girls
out
of
the
number
were
charged
at
the
same
time
with
criminal
offences.
(Continued
from
page
104)
As
I
write,
there
is
no
information
as
to
when
the
Denning
Committee
Report
is
likely
to
be
implemented.
But
the
matter
is
of
such
seriousness
that
the
Govern-
ment
is
not,
I
think,
likely
to
delay
action
very
long.
If
the
task
of
carrying
out
this
great
remedial
and
pre-
ventive
service
is
committed
to
our
hands,
our
oppor-
tunity
will
be
great,
and
our
responsibility
also
will
be
great.
Nevertheless,
I
am
confident
that,
upon
the
foundations
already
so
well
and
truly
laid
in
the
past,
we
shall
be
able
to
build
a
cordial
co-operation
in
fellowship
and
service
which
will
render
us
equal
to
the
task.
It
is
no
mean
task.
The
health
and
soundness
of
family
life
in
Britain
may
largely
depend
upon
its
effective
execution.
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