HC Deb 14 July 1977 vol 935 cc764-5
9. Mr. Christopher Price

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has now received the Fisher Report into the Confait case; and when he intends to publish it.

Mr. Merlyn Rees

All I can yet add to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend's Question on 16th June is that I understand Sir Henry Fisher will be submitting his report shortly.

Mr. Price

This is not very satisfactory. It has gone on for a long time. Is my right hon. Friend aware that the three boys in connection with whom the inquiry is taking place were acquitted as long ago as 1975 but that the fact that the inquiry is going on is holding up their compensation? They have received only a tiny fraction of it. Will my right hon. Friend have another look at this? Two of them are now married men, and they deserve a level of compensation to cover the debt that society owes them.

Mr. Rees

My hon. Friend knows a great deal about this, and he will know that what I have said is that I am considering what part of the report to publish. One of the reasons for the delay is that Sir Henry is talking to some of the people who gave evidence to see whether they would object to their evidence being made public. I think that it would be a good idea to publish as much of the report as possible, but it is right that the people concerned should be asked, given the terms under which they gave their evidence.

Mr. Freud

When the right lion. Gentleman decides to publish the Fisher Report, will he review his decision not to publish the report into the case of George Ince? It was, after all, made two years ago, and Mr. Ince's common law wife is desperately waiting for publication.

Mr. Rees

The hon. Member for Isle of Ely (Mr. Freud) is talking about a different type of report. The terms on which the Confait inquiry was made are far different from the report made in the case to which the hon. Gentleman referred, assuming that he means the inquiry which I found under way when I first got to the Department. It is not normal for a report of that kind to be published. We are discussing different types of reports.