§ Lord ALLEN of ABBEYDALEMy 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 whether they have any plans to try to improve the appreciation by the public of the issues raised in the recent report by the Advisory Council on the Penal System on sentences of imprisonment.
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, copies of the report have been sent to a number of organisations and individuals who are concerned with sentencing, with a request for comments on the Council's proposals. The Government hope that, in due course, the informed opinions of those who have read the report will carry more weight with the public than the misrepresentations of those who clearly have not.
§ Lord ALLEN of ABBEYDALEMy Lords, while thanking the noble Lord for that reply, may I ask whether he would agree that this is a serious report—whether or not one agrees with it—which calls for serious consideration? Does he accept that it is ludicrous to dismiss it as "a charter for rapists", as one of the newspapers put it, and does he recall that a rather similar fate overtook a report on evidence from the Criminal Law Revision Committee? Will he remind the Home Office Advisory Committees that there seems to be a special risk of misunderstanding—to use a kindly word—in any report concerned with crime?
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, I think I can say that the Government would agree with every word that the noble Lord has said. The Government are very concerned at the initial reaction of the popular Press, which gave a very misleading impression of the Council's report. We regard that report as having made a valuable and serious contribution to the study of sentencing and, as I said, my right honourable friend has sent this report to a large number of individuals and organisations, including of course legal organisations, far too numerous for me to mention. We are hoping that very soon we shall be able to get informed opinions from them, so that perhaps it will be possible to consider whether this can be done by arrangement and agreement and subsequently, if necessary, by legislation.
§ Lord HAILSHAM of SAINT MARYLEBONEMy Lords, while agreeing with the noble Lord that there has been misrepresentation of the recommendations of this report, and with the noble Lord on the Cross-Benches that there is a real problem to be discussed, may I ask whether the noble Lord will bear in mind that some of us think that, real as the problems are, this was in a sense a mistaken approach and that there are alternative approaches which could have been made?
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, I am sure my right honourable friend will bear that in mind. I want to stress that there will be no change until there has been real consultation with people who are in a position to advise Her Majesty's Government. Of course there must be consultation, certainly with the Lord Chief Justice and others whose opinions will be of considerable importance.
§ Lord WIGODERMy Lords, despite the illiterate hysteria with which this report was greeted, will the noble Lord agree that, if all the implications of this report were made effective overnight, they would not materially affect the current level of sentencing in the Crown Courts?
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, I do not know whether or not I can agree with the noble Lord. As I understand the position, the Council proposes that the new maximum should be fixed at a 145 level which would include 90 per cent. of the sentences of immediate imprisonment passed by Crown Courts over a selected period of time. I think the attempt is merely to try to have a more uniform practice, but I will certainly bear in mind what the noble Lord has said and I will see that my right honourable friend is informed.
§ Lord LEATHERLANDMy Lords, will my noble friend forget for a moment his criticism of the popular Press and will he not agree that the headline which he criticised—namely,"A charter for rapists"—was guaranteed to cause more people to read that story than if there had been some sober headline about penal reform?
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, we are always in favour of the widest possible dissemination to the public; it is the interpretation which they put on sensational reporting which does the damage.