§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the names, by establishment, of all members of boards of visitors.
§ Mr. BrittanWe are not persuaded that it would be right without their consent to publish in theofficial Report the names of nearly 1,500 members of the public who give their services in this way.
§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are his objections to the establishment of an independent national association of members of boards of visitors.
§ Mr. BrittanWe have no objections to the establishment of an independent national association of members of boards of visitors. It is a matter for individual members of boards to consider.
§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish in the Official Report his letter to all individual members of boards of 110W visitors on the subject of the establishment of an independent national association; what the cost was; and why it was sent.
§ Mr. BrittanWe did not write to individual members of boards of visitors. With the concurrence of the four members of boards of visitors who came to see my noble Friend the Under-Secretary, Lord Belstead on 23 June, the Department wrote to the chairman of the annual conference of boards of visitors to let her know that the meeting had taken place and explaining our response to the proposals. At the request of the chairman of conference a copy of the letter was later sent to the chairman of each board of visitors for their information.
The text of that letter follows. The cost involved in copying it to 114 boards was less than £10.
HOME OFFICE
89 Eccleston Square, London SW1V 1PU
Telephone 01–828 9848
Your reference
Our reference
Date
25 June 1980
Mrs. C. M. Romanes JP, Portesham House. Portesham, Near Weymouth, Dorset.
Dear Mrs. Romanes,
Ten individual members from six different Boards of Visitors wrote to Lord Belstead in April saying that they had decided to set up an independent National Association of individual members of Boards of Visitors. They asked Lord Belstead if he would give them the opportunity to explain to him their reasons for deciding to set up such an association, and also asked if he would provide them with the names and private addresses of all members of Boards of Visitors so that they could write to them individually about support for an association. Lord Belstead agreed to meet four of the ten signatories and did so on 23 June. With their concurrence he has asked me to let you know, as Chairman of the National Conference, that the meeting has taken place and how he responded to what he was told. Lord Belstead told them that if it were the wish of members of Boards of Visitors to form such an association he would not wish to stand in the way; but he was aware that proposals for an association had been considered on a number of occasions in the past, including at two recent Annual Conferences of Boards of Visitors, and had repeatedly failed to find support. Having listened to the arguments put to him he remained to be convinced that there was a need for an association and in the circumstances he was not prepared to lend his support to the steps that were being taken. If an association were set up and sought to establish links with the Department, the extent of support which the association received from members of Boards would of course be a matter to which the 111W Home Office would have to give attention. Lord Belstead said that in the light of what had been said about individual Board members feeling isolated from members of other Boards, the Department would look again at the arrangements which it made or encouraged to provide members of Boards with opportunities to meet and exchange views and experiences. Finally, Lord Belstead declined to provide the names and private addresses of Board members on the grounds that in the absence of consent from the individuals concerned it would be wrong to do so.
Yours sincerely,
J. D. CLEARY
Liaison Officer
Boards of Visitors