§ 25. Mr. Croninasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, in view of the fact that the use of corporal punishment in approved schools has declined from 3,006 cases in 1966 to 809 cases in 1969, he will now give instructions for its total abolition.
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsThe sharp decline in the use of corporal punishment gives encouraging evidence of changing attitudes towards questions of control. While I hope this progress will continue, I do not think it wise at present to force the pace by requiring its total abolition.
§ Mr. CroninWhile I should like to congratulate my hon. Friend on the improvement in that situation, do not the figures suggest that several thousand children have been ill-treated unnecessarily each year in the past? Is there any good reason why young people should be subjected to corporal punishment when violent criminals are completely immune from it?
§ Mrs. WilliamsIt cannot be several thousand, since the total figure for corporal punishment in 1969 was 809, but my hon. Friend will appreciate that there is shortly to be a complete change in the whole system of approved schools as they are transformed into community homes. It will, of course, then be a matter for discussion between the Home Office and the local authorities whether this system should continue or not.
§ Mr. Tom BoardmanIs there any correlation between the increase in the number of cases in which corporal punishment has been applied and the increase in the number of cases in which it could have been applied?
§ Mrs. WilliamsI am afraid that I find that very difficult to answer, because we are talking now about control within the approved school and not any form of discipline in relation to the subject of 1551 an arrest. The hon. Gentleman will appreciate that it would be very difficult to work out hypothetically whether there has been an increase in this type of disciplinary offence, because we do not record disciplinary offences in school in quite the same way as we record crimes and sentences.