§ 52. Mr. MANDERasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements have been made up to date for the provision of remand homes under Section 77 of the Children and Young Persons Act?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for the HOME DEPARTMENT (Sir John Gilmour)I am not in a position to state the number of remand homes which have been provided by local authorities under Section 77 (1) of the Children and Young Persons Act, 1933. I would, however, remind the hon. Member that Sub-section (4) of that Section provides that nothing in the Section shall be construed as requiring a local authority to provide additional remand homes for their area so long as any places of detention provided under the Children Act, 1908, and available for use as remand homes, remain suitable for that purpose and sufficient for the needs of the area. I believe it to be the case, broadly speaking, that the places of detention provided under the Children Act, 1908, are now being used as remand homes. In many cases the local authorities have delegated to their education committees their responsibilities in the matter. I am confident that the authorities are alive to their duties and have given and are giving attention to the matter. I propose at a later date to take steps to ascertain the position generally.