EMPLOYMENT OF PRISONERS Snt,—A recent announcement that the Home Secre-
tary and the Secretary of State for Scotland have decided to appoint an Advisory Council on the employment of prisoners has given rise to some con- fusion, as Mr. Butler's Committee is so closely allied in purpose to a non-governmental Committee—the formation of which Lord Pakenham and I announced recently in a BBC broadcast—whose purport .is to investigate the industrial and social problems of placing ex-prison labour.
Whilst the two committees complement each other in that the Home Secretary's Advisory Council will concern itself with the industrial problems of prisoners prior to discharge, and ours subsequent to discharge, the two are entirely independent; the former statutory, and the latter non-statutory; the one being financed by the Government, and the other by members of the public concerned with this formid- able problem of after-care. The effect of the confusion, however, has caused a great number of 'would be' supporters to assume that the Committee referred to by Lord Pakenham and me in our broadcast has become part of the Home Secretary's Advisory Council, and, further, has pro- voked pointed comments by some in industry to the effect that they could not understand why Lord Pakenham and I, during our broadcast, appealed for £1,000, which would be used to initiate the Inquiry, when the Committee is being absorbed and sponsored by the Government.
Unless this misconception is remedied, the support that is so vital at this stage will not be forthcoming, and the entire purpose of the Committee will be negated.—Yours faithfully,
12 Duke Street. St. lames's, SW1
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