§ Mr. Christopher Priceasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what progress has been made in the phasing 417W out of corporal punishment in community homes as announced by the Home Secretary on 7th August 1967; and whether she will now amend the regulations to prohibit the use of corporal punishment in these homes.
§ Dr. OwenI am glad to say that between 1966 and 1972 the use of corporal punishment in approved schools for boys in England and Wales declined from 3,006 to 647. No instances were recorded from girls' schools after 1968.
During 1973 the approved schools, along with other establishments, became community homes, and under the Community Homes Regulations 1972 the decision whether to permit the use of corporal punishment in a community home is one for the appropriate local authority. The one establishment administered directly by this Department for boys and girls in the care of local authorities is the St. Charles' Youth Treatment Centre, Brentwood. This is not a community home but serves a connected purpose and corporal punishment is not used.
In a memorandum of advice which accompanied the regulations the then Secretaries of State in 1972 welcomed the declining trend and expressed the hope that local authorities, if they authorised the use of corporal punishment, would do so sparingly and as a last resort, and would consider at each annual review whether it was still needed. I strongly endorse this view. Though statistics of the use of corporal punishment in community homes have not been collected centrally since 1972 I know of no evidence that challenges the view that the past trend of a decline in the use of corporal punishment in the ex-approved schools has continued. My right hon. Friend and my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Wales have no present intention of amending the regulations. They hope local authorities will continue to review their policy annually.