§ 18. Mr. Brockwayasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will discuss with the Governments of the Colonies, Protectorates and Trusteeship Territories the preparation of minimum standard rules for prisons and detentive institutions in these territories.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydColonial Governments already possess copies of the United Kingdom Prison Rules, 1949, and a set of draft standard minimum rules, largely in agreement with United Kingdom principles, is being considered by the United Nations. My advisers scrutinise colonial prison reports and legislation and matters of importance are referred to my Advisory Committee on the Treatment of Offenders. In the circumstances, I do not consider that discussion of yet another set of standard rules, on the lines proposed, would serve any useful purpose.
§ Mr. BrockwayDoes the right hon. Gentleman really think that is enough? Has he read the Report of the Advisory Committee to the Colonial Office on conditions in colonial prisons? Is he aware that we have undertaken to the United Nations to carry out standard minimum regulations in the Colonial Territories? In view of all those facts, will he look at the matter again?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydIt is my custom, which I am sure is not an unusual one, to read the advice and the reports that advisory committees present to me. I should be very ready to circulate to any hon. Members interested the Report of the Advisory Committee on the Treatment of Offenders which was presented to my predecessor one month before I took office, and I would gladly lay copies in the House. I am sure that the result of any scrutiny of the Report would not only give some indications of the lines of future progress but would also show what valuable work has been done in penal reform over the last few years.