§ 3. Mr. Hendersonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will discuss with representatives of the Royal Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children any special initiatives which might be undertaken in view of its centenary in the current year.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. John MacKay)My Department is regularly in touch with the society and with local authorities about measures relating to the welfare of children. My right hon. Friend was pleased to give a reception in Edinburgh at the end of last year to mark the launch of the society's appeal to business and industry in this its centenary year.
§ Mr. HendersonIs my hon. Friend aware of the view that somewhere in Britain every week a child dies from injuries inflicted by its parents? Does he agree that that is an indication of the disturbing amount of child abuse 100 years after the society was formed? Will he look at the budget of the Scottish Office to see whether it, as well as the general public, can do more to help this worthy cause, even if at the expense of other causes which seem to get surprising support from the Scottish Office?
§ Mr. MacKayI share my hon. Friend's concern about the continuing child abuse in this day and age. Along with other agencies, the local authority social work departments maintain registers of children who are at risk, from which we would hope to pick up cases where children may be liable to abuse by their parents. In this financial year we gave the Royal Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children a grant of £76,750 for the Overnewton centre, which deals specifically with the problem of child abuse.
§ Mr. Norman Hoggrose—
§ Mr. SpeakerMr. Douglas Hogg.
§ Mr. Norman HoggNo matter which House you may visit, Mr. Speaker, the real Hogg is the one who is here today.
§ Mr. SpeakerI beg the hon. Gentleman's pardon. Mr. Norman Hogg.
§ Mr. HoggDoes the Minister agree that the best special initiative which the Tory Government could take would be to restore the funding of local government so that grants paid to a caring organisation such as the charity mentioned could be restored to a proper level and could do its job, as could the social work departments? Will he give an undertaking that he will stop making bland remarks about the caring services over which he presides, and instead see to it that these services are capable of doing the job for which they are intended?
§ Mr. MacKayThe hon. Gentleman has missed the fact that during the past four to five years the amount of money spent on social work under this Government has increased considerably. It is up to local authorities to decide their contributions to the Royal Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. I hope that they will continue to make that contribution, and not decline to make it for doctrinaire reasons because they would rather their own professionals did it than this splendid voluntary organisation.