§ 59. Mr. WEDGWOODasked the President of the Hoard of Education whether he will alter the regulation recently issued with reference to mental deficiency, so that the parents shall at least be notified when their children are certified as defective to the local authority?
§ The PRESIDENT of the BOARD of EDUCATION (Mr. J. A. Pease)Yes, Sir. A provision to that effect will be inserted in the Final Regulations.
§ 60. Mr. WEDGWOODasked the Secretary for the Home Department whether it is his intention that letters written by inmates of mentally defective institutions to their parents shall be read by the superintendent of such institutions and only forwarded at his discretion; and, if not, whether he will alter the Regulations accordingly?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for the HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. McKenna)Section 41 (1) (b) of the Mental Deficiency Act enables the Secretary of State to make Regulations for the management of institutions; and Section 41 (2) enacts that these Regulations shall apply the provisions of Section 41 of the Lunacy Act, 1890, which relate to patients' letters. The Provisional Regulations which give effect to those provisions do not require, nor is 918 it intended, that all letters shall be read by the superintendent, and his discretion to stop any letter is limited to the grounds set out in Regulation 99, and is subject to the control of the Board.
§ Mr. WEDGWOODAre we to under stand that the inmates of these homes can not write to their parents unless the superintendent passes the letters?
§ Mr. McKENNAIf my hon. Friend reads the reply he will see that the question is fully answered.
§ Mr. WEDGWOODMy question is perfectly clear, whether the letters to the parents will be allowed to be sent unopened?
§ Mr. McKENNAThat is the very point to which I have given an answer. [The right hon. Gentleman repeated the answer.]
§ Mr. BOOTHCan my right hon. Friend say whether the superintendent enters upon the records all such cases of refusal to forward letters so that the Commissioners on their visitation can review the book?
§ Mr. McKENNAI have inquired very fully into the point. My hon. Friend has raised the question of a particular limit which might be placed on the power of discretion, and I will consider whether that limit is one which should be so placed.
§ 61. Mr. WEDGWOODasked the Home Secretary, with reference to the mental deficiency Regulations, whether the register of the mentally defective is to include those who are defective but who have not yet been brought within the meshes of the law; and, if so, on what Section of the Act he bases this interference with individual liberty?
§ Mr. McKENNAThe register required by the Regulations to be kept by local authorities is to include those persons-who are defectives subject to be dealt with under the provisions of paragraph (b) of Sub-section (1) of Section 2 of the Act. These defectives may be described as having "been brought within the meshes of the law" if by that is meant that they come within one or other of the categories enumerated in that Sub-section. No register is required to be kept of any other defectives. The Regulations are based on Section 30 (a) of the Act.
§ Mr. WEDGWOODMay I ask whether-these Regulations issued by his Department do not make these restrictions and autho- 919 rise the local authorities to make a complete register of defectives, and how does he justify those Regulations with the Act?
§ Mr. McKENNAI have gone very fully into the Regulations, and, as I read them and approved them, they relate only to defectives who are subject to be dealt with under paragraph (b) Sub-section (1) of Section 2 of the Act. I quite agree that at the moment the local authorities deal with defectives who have not been brought under the paragraph, but they only register with the intention of bringing them tinder paragraph (b), and if it is found on investigation that such defective is not a suitable person to come under paragraph (b) then such defective would not be included.
§ Mr. WEDGWOODWould the name be struck off the black list?
§ Mr. McKENNAI must demur altogether to the use of the term "black list."
§ Mr. WATTWill the right hon. Gentleman say whether his jurisdiction in this direction extends to Scotland, and, if so, whether the same Regulations have been issued as for England?
§ Mr. McKENNAI must communicate on that point with my right hon. Friend the Secretary for Scotland whose particular Regulations will more or less conform to the same principles as those in the English Regulations.