HC Deb 21 November 1957 vol 578 c540
9. Mrs. White

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has to deal with the thousands of men now serving prison sentences for failure to meet maintenance payments due under court order to their wives or children.

Mr. R. A

Butler: As I stated in reply to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Devonport (Miss Vickers) on 19th November, the Government propose to introduce during the present Session a Bill to provide for the attachment of earnings to satisfy maintenance orders on which payments have fallen into arrears. This was among the measures recommended by my Advisory Council on the Treatment of Offenders in its recent Report on alternatives to short terms of imprisonment, and I hope that it will significantly reduce the number of men who go to prison for failure to meet their maintenance obligations.

Mrs. White

While the right hon. Gentleman is no doubt aware that his decision to bring in such a Measure is in the public interest and will meet with the approval of the Magistrates' Association, the Association of Probation Officers, the Howard League and various other organisations, would he tell the House whether he has good hopes of reaching some agreement with the Trades Union Congress?

Mr. Butler

I realise that there are difficulties about this Measure, but I must stress that the number of men committed to prison for failure to meet maintenance obligations is about 5,000 a year and that the average period served is six weeks. With the present crowded state of the prisons, it must be encumbent on me to take any steps I can to reduce the pressure on them. It is in that spirit, realising the difficulties that both the Trades Union Congress and some industrialists feel, that I must discuss with all those interested some of the difficulties that arise.