§ 3.5 p.m.
§ LORD STONHAMMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the first Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government to state in the latest year for which figures are available, the total Treasury funds expended on the administration of after-care, and on the actual aftercare, of ex-prisoners, respectively.]
THE MINISTER OF STATE, HOME OFFICE (EARL JELLICOE)My Lords, during 1961 the total expenditure of the various after-care organisations was £334,000. Of this amount, £276,000 was spent on administration, including the salaries of prison welfare officers and after-care officers who provide personal service, and £58,000 was spent on direct material aid to former inmates and their families. The total contribution from public funds amounted to £273,000, representing £243,000 for administration and £30,000 for direct material aid.
§ LORD STONHAMMy Lords, is the noble Earl aware that those figures show that 16s. out of every £1 of the very meagre amount paid for after-care goes in administration and leaves only some £50,000, about 10s. per discharged prisoner, for actual aid to prisoners and their families? I am not commenting adversely on the cost of administration, but does not the noble Earl agree that it is imperative that more funds should be provided for the actual after-care of prisoners, if only because it is much cheaper than letting them go back to prison again?
EARL JELLICOEMy Lords, I think that the noble Lord has done the sum 1420 quite correctly. I do not necessarily draw quite the same conclusion from it, because, as I mentioned in my original Answer, the sum spent on administration includes salaries of prison welfare officers and after-care officers, and their salaries and expenses are inevitably a large part of the expenditure on a service which is necessarily of a personal nature. The second point I would draw to the noble Lord's attention is that a good deal of expenditure of an aftercare variety falls on the National Assistance Board and, of course, has not been included in the figure I have given to your Lordships' House.
§ LORD STONHAMMy Lords, nevertheless is it not the case that only some £50,000 was spent on actual after-care of prisoners, and that is what a man looks to when he goes in urgent need of help? It is also the case that the amounts received from the National Assistance Board are quite small. May I put this question to the noble Earl? What plans have the Government in mind for increasing the amounts of actual after-care expenditure on prisoners, many of whom are in desperate need and who, if they do not get help, will inevitably go back to prison?
EARL JELLICOEMy Lords, I do not think that Question Time really provides me with a suitable opportunity for expanding at great length on our plans in this direction. I would remind the noble Lord that we had a very full debate recently on the whole question of prisons, including after-care, and also that my right honourable friend's Advisory Council on the Treatment of Offenders will shortly report on the whole question of after-care and that will provide us with a good opportunity for stock-taking in this very important field.
§ THE EARL OF LISTOWELMy Lords, does not the noble Earl agree that it is most necessary, from the point of view of after-care, that the Advisory Council should report at the earliest possible moment, and that the Government should decide on their policy in the light of the views of the Advisory Council as soon as may be?