§ 57. Mr. Footasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will now make a further statement following his study of schemes proposed by the late Miss Margery Fry for providing compensation for the victims of crimes of violence, including the dependants of murdered persons; and whether Her Majesty's Government will now consider proposing legislation for this purpose.
§ Mr. Hector Hughesasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will specify the number, nature and content of the schemes he has considered, including those of the late Miss Margery Fry, designed to provide remedies and rights to compensation for the victims and dependants of unlawful attacks on their persons and property.
§ Mr. R. A. ButlerMiss Margery Fry proposed that the State should pay compensation to the victims of personal violence on a scale similar to that under the Industrial Injuries Scheme. I am still studying this proposal with care, but it gives rise to considerable difficulties, both of principle and of practice, and I cannot give an undertaking about legislation.
17WI am much interested in the wider question whether greater use could be made in our penal system of the principle of restitution by the offender. This raises more far-reaching issues than Miss Fry's proposals and must be considered in the general context of our methods of dealing with offenders.