§ 23. Mr. Kenneth Lindsayasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what age—group the highest proportion of juvenile delinquency is prevalent during the current year.
§ Mr. EdeProvisional figures for the year 1948 show that the number of juveniles found guilty of indictable offences per 100,000 of the population of their age group was highest in the 14–17 group.
§ Mr. LindsayWill my right hon. Friend bear in mind that the moral exhortations of a State honesty campaign suggested at a recent conference are not going to affect young people of this age, and that a little more co-operation between the home and the school will save hundreds of these children from getting into the courts? Many of them are merely bored and not delinquents.
§ Mr. EdeI agree with my hon. Friend, but I am certain that it is desirable that every effort should be made to bring home to the general population of the country the necessity of maintaining the highest moral standards.