§ MR. DAVID SMITH (Brighton)asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether it is a fact that in Her Majesty's prison in Jersey prisoners are shut up during the winter season from dusk till seven in the morning without the cells being warmed, without lights, and without any means of communication with a warder; and, whether he will send an Inspector to examine the prison, and report to him thereon, or to take such steps as he may think right to ameliorate the condition of the prisoners?
THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. CHILDERS)Yes, Sir. The fact is as stated 92 in the Question of the hon. Member. I have called the attention of the Governor of the Island to the matter, and he has asked me that an Inspector of English prisons may be sent over to report on the state of the prison there. I have accordingly given instructions that this may be arranged at once. I would remind the hon. Member that the prison administration in Jersey is vested in a Prisons Board, composed of the leading officials of the Island, and not in the Secretary of State in the sense that the administration of English prisons is under the Act of 1877.