In Parliament
| DOI | 10.1177/026455055900900406 |
| Date | 01 December 1959 |
| Published date | 01 December 1959 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
55
IN
PARLIAMENT
THERE
HAS
of
course
been
little
parliamentary
activity
since
our
last
notes
were
written
and
the
new
House
has
only
just
met
as
these
are
being
prepared.
The
Queen’s
Speech
promises
further
legislation
obviously
embodying
the
recommendations
of
the
White
Paper
on
the
treatment
of
juvenile
offenders,
which
is
referred
to
elsewhere
in
PROBATION,
and
the
earlier
report
on
further
supervision
and
after-care
of
discharged
prison-
ers.
The
Bill
was
not
amongst
those
published
at
the
beginning
of
the session
and
it
will
presumably
appear
in
the
New
Year.
The
reference
to
this
subject
gave
the
opportunity
for
two
speakers
in
the
debate
on
the
Address
to
refer
to
crime
and
its
treatment.
Mr.
E.
L.
Gardner,
the
newly
elected
Member
for
Billericay.
reminded
the
Home
Secretary
of the
dangers
of
a
too
easy
approach
to
crime,
and
seemed
to
suggest
that
consideration
may
soon
have
to
be
given
to
a
return
to
more
drastic
penaltics.
Mr.
Gardner
has
replaced
in
the
House
Mr.
Richard
Body,
one
of
the
best
friends
of
probation,
but
he
does
not
seem
to
be
in
entire
agreement
with
Mr.
Body’s
view
on
the
treatment
of
crime.
Later
in
the
debate
Mr.
-1’.
L.
Iremonger
(llford
North)
welcomed
the
promised
new
legislation
and
paid
u
very
great
tribute
to
the
Probation
Service.
He
regarded
that
as
the
most
neglected
weapon
of
penal
and
social
reform.
He
thought
it
was
the
cheapest
way
of
dealing
with
the
criminal
and
in
very
many
cases
the
most
effective,
but
it
was
grossly
overloaded
and
underpaid.
Mr.
Iremonger
was
afraid
that
this
meant
that
the
Service
could
not
command
the
degree
of
public
confidence
which
it
deserved.
Conseduently,
the
public
were
still
inclined
to
regard
putting
a
criminal
on
probation
as
being
soft
with
him
and
letting
him
on.
&dquo;If
this
impression
is
allowed
to
persist,&dquo;
said
Mr.
lremonger,
&dquo;I
think
we
shall
be
neglect-
ing
what
is
probably
the
most
effective
and
most
worth-
while
arm
in
the
redemption
and
deterrent
service.
I
hope
that
we
may
look
forward
to
an
expansion
of
this
service
as
a
means
of
checking
juvenile
crime,
as
well
as
looking
after
the
older
offender&dquo;.
One
day
of
the
debate
on
the
Address
was
devoted
largely
to
the
needs
of
the
Youth
Service
and
the
Minister
of
Education
(Sir
David
Eccles)
suggested
that
more
money
may
be
available
and
that
big
developments
may
be
expected.
He
could
not
anticipate
the
Albemarle
Report
and
everyone
in
the
field
of
youth
work
is
now
asking
when
this
will
be
available,
because
developments
are
being
discussed
on
which
the
advice
of
that
Committee
may
be
needed.
Mr.
Anthony
Greenwood
(Rossendale)
urged
the
House
not
to
be
panicky
about
modern
youth
and
he
drew
attention
to
the
vast
majority
of
young
people
who
are
as
law
abiding
and
decent
living
as
ever:
the
increases
in
delinquency
were
not
to
be
ignored,
but
it
was
essential
to
keep
them
in
proportion.
In
the
pattern
already
familiar
to
the
Probation
Service,
the
House
was
full
of
tributes
to
the
work
of
Youth
Leaders
and
others
in
the
youth
services,
and
of
demands
for better
support
for
them;
they
will
realise
that
what
is
said
in
Parliament
takes
a
long
time
to
translate
into
results.
SALARIES
OF
PROBATION
OFFICERS
With
no
previous
warning,
and
by
means
of the
&dquo;private
notice&dquo;
question.
Mr.
Butler
informed
the
House
of
Commons
on
l l th
November
that
he
proposed
to
restore
to
the
salaries
of
senior
and
principal
probation
officers
the
cut
he
had
felt
compelled
to
make
in
the
award
of
the
Joint
Negotiating
Committee
two
years
ago.
He
pro-
posed
to
bring
the
restored
salaries
into
effect
from
lst
November:
the
answer
was
a
written
one
so
no
one
could
ask
why
there
was
not
greater
retrospection.
or
whether
anything
would
be
done
about
the
salaries
of
the
rest
of
the
Service
which,
though
not
cut,
were
affected
by
the
previous
action
of the
Home
Secretary.
Mr.
Iremonger
( llford
North)
asked
the
Home
Secretary
whether
he
would
make
a
statement
about
the
Probation
Service
and
its
future
but
the
Home
Secretary
replied,
of
course,
that
these
matters
were
now
all
being
investigated
by
a
Departmental
Committee.
Mr.
Iremonger
pressed
the
Home
Secretary
about
the
time
the
Departmental
Com-
mittee
is
likely
to
take
and
suggested
that
it
might
be
asked
to
report
in
time
for
legislation
to
be
included
in
the
next
parliamentary
session;
Mr.
Butler
said
that
he
did
not
think
legislation
need
wait
for
the
Departmental
Committee.
&dquo;I
should
have
thought
that
legislation
might
be introduced
before
we
receive
the
report,
but
I do
not
think
it
will
be
impossible
to
consider
it
during
the
passage
of
the
legislation&dquo;.
What
this
means
is
for
anyone
to
guess !
FIRST
OFFENDERS
IN
SCOTLAND
Each
parliamentary
session
has
its
early
excitement
when
Members
put
their
names
into
the
ballot
for
the
opportunity
to
introduce
private
Bills;
usually
about
eighteen
names
are
drawn
out
but
only
the
top
six
have
much
hope
of
getting
their
Bills
seriously
considered.
The
ballot
this
time
was
remarkable
in
that
four
newly
elected
Members
were
successful;
old
hands
in
the
House
usually
have one
or
two
ideas
for
Bills
tucked
away
waiting
for
the
opportunity
but
new
Members
are
less
likely
to
be
so
placed.
One
of
the
new
Members
was
William
Small,
M.P.
for
Scotstoun.
Glasgow,
and
he
took
the
opportunity
to
enter
in
his
name
a
First
Offenders
Bill
for
Scotland,
which
will
be
designed
to
have
in
that
country
the
same
effect
on
the
imprisonment
of
first
offenders,
as
Sir
George
Benson’s
First
Offenders
Act
has
in
England
and
Wales.
Mr.
Smalt’s
success
and
consequent
choice
of
Bill
will
be
welcomed
by
the
Probation
Service
in
Scotland
and
it
is
suggested
by
the
political
correspondents
that
the
Bill
will
receive
all-party
support,
so
its
chances
of
success
are
reasonably
high.
It
will come
up
for
second
reading
in
February.
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