§ Mr. Whitakerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for increasing hostels for paroled and other ex-prisoners, for the training and staffing of hostel staff, for training voluntary rehabilitation workers, and for increasing the number of probation officers.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsI am keeping under review the arrangements for Government support of the cost of approved after-care hostels, and I hope shortly to form a housing association to assist voluntary management committees to acquire suitable buildings. I have arranged for the setting up of regional consultative committees to enable probation and aftercare authorities, the prison service and voluntary societies to assess needs and co-ordinate action. The National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders is investigating the training needs of hostel staff, and I shall give careful consideration to its recommendations. At my invitation probation and after-care committees are providing courses of preparation for voluntary workers, who are being increasingly used in the befriending of offenders and their families. I aim to expand the Probation and After-Care Service in England and Wales to a strength of 3,500 by 1970.