§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in view of the shortage of prison space, he will introduce legislation to provide that suspended sentences of imprisonment rather than imprisonment should normally be awarded, particularly for failure to pay fines.
§ Mr. Elystan MorganThe Criminal Justice Act, 1967, gives the courts a wide discretion to suspend sentences of imprisonment and requires them, in many 471W circumstances, to suspend sentences of imprisonment not exceeding six months. In tine enforcement procedures, imprisonment is ordered only as a last resort: and there is power to suspend, on conditions, an order of committal to prison.