 As Minister of State with responsibility for Northern Ireland, he made a three-day visit to the province starting on 4 June 1968.He contributed to a number of reforms of penal servitude policy, by including a more complex parole system contained in the Criminal Justice Act 1967.Stonham believed that streamlined industries could provide a modern solution to prisoner rehabilitation, where unskilled and semi-skilled workers could be granted a better opportunity to stay out of prison.