§ MR. HIBBERTsaid, he would beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether his attention has been called to the statement contained in the Report on Prison Discipline in the Colonies (1867–8), respecting the Imperial Convict Prison at Gibraltar—namely, that—
The building does not admit of separation. The wards, when full, give only 176 cubic feet per head, the hammocks then almost touching. There are but fifteen separate or punishment cells for the 800 prisoners. The water is very impure. The visitors have visited only eight times in five years;whether any enlargement or alteration of the Prison has since been effected; and, if not, whether it is intended to continue such Prison as a place of detention for Convicts?
§ MR. MONSELLsaid, in reply, that the statement in the Report on Prison Discipline in the Colonies (1867–8) conveyed rather an erroneous impression with respect to Gibraltar. It would be quite true that if there were 800 prisoners in the convict prison there would be only 176 cubic feet of air per head, but at the time at which the Report was made the maximum number of prisoners was only 390, and the average was 304. The number had now, however, been increased, and there were 525 prisoners. In the last Report made by the surgeon he stated that the health of the convicts was very good, only about 3 per cent being on the sick list. The water, no doubt, was very impure, which was the case generally at Gibraltar; but a Sanitary Commission had been sitting for some time, and they were now boring for water, not only for the use of the convict establishment, but of Gibraltar generally. At the time the Report was made a very unsatisfactory account was given of the way in which the visitors discharged their duty, but new visitors had been appointed, who attended every day, and the last despatches received contained an expression of the Governor's entire satisfaction with the way they discharged their duties. There were no material alterations or enlargements made in the prison, because it had been intended two years ago to get rid of the convict establishment at Gibraltar; that project had been given up, and it had been felt that the Colonial Office had no proper staff at their disposal for the regulation of the establishment. It, therefore, would be handed over to the Home Office, and it would be their duty to consider the requirements of the present establishment and to make whatever alterations they considered necessary in the prison.