§ Lord ELTONMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what sums they expended in the financial year 1974–75 on the promotion of research into the causes of non-accidental injury to children and their cure and what sums they propose to allocate to this purpose in the current and next financial years.
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, although no sum was specifically allocated to this research in 1974–75, the noble Lord and your Lordships will recall that I mentioned in my reply to the noble Lord on the 8th May last that, in a grant to the National Society for the 7 Prevention of Cruelty to Children, there was a sum to cover the salary of a research worker in order to enable a closer study to be made of families where a child is injured and of the effectiveness of techniques of treatment. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Social Services also assisted through the Oxford Linkage Study, the detailed study which was published last year of severely ill-treated children in North-East Wiltshire. So far as this year is concerned, my right honourable friend has not been able to commission any additional research, but the Department is actively seeking to promote research in this field and several projects are being discussed with researchers at this time. The research budget is under considerable pressure, but my right honourable friend regards this problem as a priority.
§ Lord ELTONMy Lords, while thanking the noble Lord for that reply, may I ask him whether he agrees that it is quite relevant to remember in these days of financial stringency that prevention is not only better but cheaper than cure? Can he assure this House that a priority will be given to this field of inquiry not only for reasons of finance but also of humanitarianism?
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, I am sure that Her Majesty's Government would not disagree with anything that the noble Lord has said. One of the problems about research is that one has to be very clear as to the scope and the field of the research, and to find suitable people—because this is really essential, as the noble Lord knows—to undertake it in depth. One does not want to go off on a series of frolics. One wants to put down one's roots deeply in a defined area and this is what we are hoping to do. We certainly regard this as a matter of very great priority.
§ Lord ELTONMy Lords, may I ask the noble Lord not to be too surprised if I ask him in six months' time how he is getting on with this?
§ Baroness SUMMERSKILLMy Lords, arising out of my noble friend's reply, may I ask whether I am to take it that the institution of marriage will be examined, and the causes of disputes between husband and wife? At inquests 8 and inquiries of this kind it is generally found that the child suffers because the husband and wife are quarrelling and they take it out on the child.
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, I would not be able to give your Lordships an undertaking that the institution of marriage will itself be examined, but I can say that, in dealing with any difficulty that arises as a result of battered children, the relationship of the husband and wife and the interplay of that relationship in the family upon the children must obviously be taken into account.