HC Deb 05 March 1953 vol 512 cc535-7
5. Mr. Janner

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the remand home accommodation in London for girls under 14 years of age.

Sir D. Maxwell Fyfe

In the London area, most junior girls sent to a remand home have been accommodated at Milton House, provided by Croydon County Borough Council. During the temporary closure of this remand home, junior girls are being placed in remand homes in or around London which are able to take junior as well as senior girls.

Mr. Janner

Is not the right hon. and learned Gentleman aware that there is considerable anxiety in the courts at the fact that there are not sufficient remand homes available for these young girls; that the magistrates consider that sending them to places as far away as Winchester is most undesirable; and also that when the young girls are mixed with older girls there is bound to be a deleterious effect upon them? Can the Home Secretary do something to ease the position so that remand homes are made available?

Sir D. Maxwell Fyfe

A meeting of the children's committee of the Croydon County Borough Council was to take place today to discuss the future of the Milton House remand home. The Home Office have drawn the attention of the Council to the importance of securing the early reopening of the home. I shall certainly bear in mind what the hon. Member says. I appreciate the importance of the point he makes.

Mr. Hastings

Am I right in assuming that there is plenty of accommodation for older girls on remand in London?

Sir D. Maxwell Fyfe

I think that is right. I will check the point.

10. Mr. Sorensen

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department to what extent the infliction of corporal punishment has increased or decreased in remand homes and approved schools during the last five years; and in how many cases this punishment has involved four or more strokes.

Sir D. Maxwell Fyfe

Apart from cases in which it was given for minor offences in the schoolroom, corporal punishment in approved schools was administered on 3,978 occasions in 1948 and on 3,417 occasions in 1952. Information is not available for 1948 about the number of strokes given, but in 1949 four or more strokes were given in 2,814 cases, and in 1952 in 2,525 cases. In remand homes, corporal punishment was administered on 833 occasions in 1948 and on 403 occasions in 1952; four or more strokes were given in 368 cases in 1949 and in 279 cases in 1952.

Mr. Sorensen

Does not the right hon. and learned Gentleman agree that, as in most countries this kind of punishment has been abandoned, and as we have abandoned it in our prisons except for certain serious offences, it is better to try to minimise it and even abolish it?

Sir D. Maxwell Fyfe

The Franklin Committee, in their Report on punishments in approved schools and remand homes, published in December, 1951, had no serious criticisms to make of the use of corporal punishment.

Mr. Renton

Would not my right hon. and learned Friend say that a justifiable economy would have been to tell the hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Sorensen) that the figures were not available?

Mr. Hastings

In how many cases in which corporal punishment was administered was the mental condition of the child first investigated?

Sir D. Maxwell Fyfe

That is a factor which is always kept under careful review.