§ 30. Mr. N. Pannellasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to reduce the incidence of crimes of violence against the person, especially in regard to youths, aged between 17 and 21 years, in respect to whom the number of those found guilty of this offence rose from 380 in 1948 to 1,220 in 1956.
§ Mr. R. A. ButlerI am concerned at this and other features of the incidence and pattern of crime as shown by recent statistics. I have constantly under review, in consultation with the Advisory Council on the Treatment of Offenders and others, those preventive and reformative measures that are open to me; and I hope that the inquiry into crimes of violence which the Cambridge Department of Criminal Science are conducting will provide valuable information about the nature and extent of the problem. It is not, however, as my hon. Friend will understand, one that can be solved solely by Government action.
§ Mr. PannellIn view of the growing disquiet in the country at the increase of this type of crime, would my right hon. Friend consider restoring to the courts the power to order corporal punishment, especially birching for bad boys?
§ Mr. ButlerOn the question of corporal punishment, I think we have to decide whether it should be for a criminal offence or not, and I am not at present persuaded that to make it a punishment for a criminal offence would be successful.