§ Mr. Dewarasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the investigations by universities or other institutions into any aspect of crime or its prevention which have been commissioned by his Department and the cost of each.
§ Mr. RossIt would be difficult to describe all the research being carried on in Great Britain sponsored by the Government of relevance to crime. This would have to extend beyond the field of criminology to medicine, psychology and sociology. It would have to include all the work (such as the extensive probation research project) of the Home Office Research Unit which operates on behalf of both Home Departments. The following is a list of research projects being carried out, or recently completed, in Scottish universities with financial assistance from my Department:—
- (1) Study of approved school boys who have been in care. Completed: cost £4,500.
- (2) Study of the types of offender sentenced to detention in a young offenders' institution and the effect of this disposal on detention
181 centres and borstal institutions. Completed: cost £1,180. - (3) Study of the effects of the deferred sentence. Completed at minimal cost to my Department.
- (4) Research into the prevention of juvenile delinquency with special reference to the relationship between school and the community. Completed: cost estimated at about £6,500.
- (5) Investigation into police procedure for recording crime in order to achieve uniformity and a more accurate assessment of the state of crime. Cost to date—£3,600 (suspended pending implementation of Thomson Committee report).
- (6) Study of the methods of dealing with police-detected juvenile offenders to assist in the consideration and implementation of the Social Work (Scotland) Act. 1968. Nearing completion. Estimated cost—£3,310.
- (7) Study of the system of imposing and enforcing fines. Expected to be completed in about two years' time and to cost £7,000.
- (8) Study of the primary methods of selection for, and the effectiveness of the parole system. Estimated cost over a three year period £4,160.
- (9) Study of the sub-cultural aspects of crime. Duration and cost subject to review, Current estimate of cost of the order of £10,000.
- (10) Study of juvenile delinquency in Aberdeen. Estimated cost over a three year period about £7,500.
- (11) Continuing studies on various aspects of juvenile delinquency, including the methods of dealing with petty offenders and the background of boys placed on probation. Estimated cost—about £1,600 per annum.