HC Deb 16 November 1944 vol 404 cc2100-1
28. Mr. Edmund Harvey

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called to numbers of cases of children living under neglect in insanitary conditions for whom 'no satisfactory homes are at present available and to the difficulty experienced by magistrates in dealing with such cases of cruelty and neglect, because of the absence of provisions for securing the welfare of the children; and what steps are being taken to remedy the difficulty.

Mr. H. Morrison

My hon. Friend has sent me a communication from which it appears that in a particular area difficulty is being experienced in finding for neglected children either foster parents or accommodation in a suitable institution. I am in communication with the local authority, on whom the responsibility rests for making provision for such children, and I will communicate further with my hon. Friend as soon as possible.

Mr. Harvey

While thanking my right hon. Friend for his reply, may I ask whether he is aware that this is not confined to one area? Similar difficulties occur elsewhere, and there is urgent need for remand homes and for approved schools, for neglected children against whom there is no charge, and who ought not to be put in the same place as delinquent children.

Mr. Morrison

I quite agree with my hon. Friend that there are shortcomings. It is, of course, a local authorities' service, and I have no powers of compulsion. There are great difficulties about labour and material during war time. I am conscious of the shortcomings, and will do all I can to meet them.