§ Mr. HALL-CAINEasked the Home Secretary whether he has any statistics to show whether juvenile crime has increased or deceased in this country since the Children and Young Persons Act of 1933 was brought into force; and whether he will make a statement with regard to this matter?
§ Mr. LLOYDThe number of juveniles under 16 found guilty of indictable offences was in 1932, 13,778; in 1933, 14,412; and in 1934, 17,902. The Children and Young Persons Act, 1933, came into force on 1st November, 1933. It raised the age of a young person by one year and in 1934, 2,638 juveniles of 16 were found guilty of indictable offences. On the comparable figures for 1933 and 1934 there was an increase in round figures of 3,500 offences in 1934. The population of juveniles between the ages of 10 and under 16 in England and Wales for those same two years was in round figures 4,020,000 and 4,135,000—a rise of 115,000. The increase of 3,500 offences has therefore to be spread over 4,135,000 juveniles. It seems probable that some part of the increase is due to the fact that since the Act came into force more attention is being given to the problem of juvenile 2799W offenders and that there is less reluctance to bring them before the Juvenile Courts whose duty it is to have regard to the welfare of the juveniles brought before them.