asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the number of cases of neglect or cruelty to children before the courts for the years 1946–51, separately.

The persons convicted of the offence of neglect or ill-treatment of children in the years 1946–50 numbered 1,068, 1,045, 1,040, 907, 974, and, in the first nine months of 1951, 775, respectively.