EARL COMPTON (York, W.R., Barnsley)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was at the time of the passing of "The Prisons Act, 1877, "the number of prisoners in Coldbath Fields Prison for whom the Justices of Middlesex were responsible, and for whom cell accommodation was provided; and, whether any and what sum became payable or was secured to the Secretary of State by the Justices of Middlesex, under the provisions of Section 34 of that Act, as a debt to the Crown, in consequence of the Justices declining to accept the offer of the Secretary of State of the re-conveyance of Coldbath Fields and Clerkenwell Prisons?
§ MR. MATTHEWSThe number of prisoners belonging to the Middlesex Justices for whom cell accommodation was provided at Coldbath Fields was 1,558. The statutory price for the re-conveyance of this prison to the Justices was therefore £186,960. As the Justices declined to accept the re-conveyance of the prison, no sum became payable by them or was secured by the Secretary of State.