§ 24. Mr. POTTERasked the Home Secretary the percentage number of Borstal inmates who have passed through the Borstal institutions during the past five years, to the nearest convenient date, and who are reported upon as having been reformed; whether the figure representing the number of ex-Borstal inmates reformed includes any beyond the period of two years from the date of discharge from the Borstal institution; and the approximate number of ex-Borstal inmates undergoing sentences in ordinary prisons to-day or to the nearest convenient date?
§ Sir J. GILMOURDuring the five years ended 31st December last, 3,407 lads were discharged on licence from Borstal institutions. It has not been possible since I received notice of this question to check their subsequent records in detail, but approximately 60 per cent. of those discharged have not been re-convicted; though many have been at liberty for more than two years. On 1st February, 1934, the number of ex-Borstal inmates undergoing sentences of imprisonment on re-conviction was 614, but no inference as to the success or otherwise of Borstal training can be drawn from this figure. Nearly 11,600 young men have been licensed from Borstal institutions since the system was brought into operation.
§ Mr. MACQUISTENIs the system of education more efficient than that in most schools for fitting the boys for after life?