§ 30. Mrs, L. Jegerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions have been brought since 1952, under the Children and Young 1616 Persons Act, against parents whose children were seriously injured or killed as a result of unguarded fires.
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeThis offence can be committed by any person having charge of a child, and the statistics do not distinguish cases of prosecution of parents only. The number of persons aged 16 or over having charge of a child who were prosecuted for this offence in the four years 1952 to 1955 was 70.
§ Mrs. JegerDoes the Home Secretary think that he could usefully take any action to make this legislation more widely known? Is he aware that a distressing number of children are still burned by unguarded fires? It would contribute towards an improvement if the existence of this legislation could be made more widely known, so that there would be more public awareness of it.
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeI will certainly look into that point.