§ 58 and 59. Mr. William Priceasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether he will reintroduce corporal punishment for crimes of violence in cases where other treatment has been tried without success;
(2) whether he will reintroduce corporal punishment for assaults on police officers by people who have previously been convicted of an offence involving violence.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsI see no reason to depart from the unanimous 1960 findings of the Advisory Council on the Treatment of Offenders which after a most careful survey found no evidence that this punishment was in any way more effective than other penal measures in deterring offenders either in crime generally or from crimes of violence, whether or not they had previously been convicted of serious offences. The Answer to both Questions is therefore "No".