§ MR. JUSTIN M'CARTHY (Londonderry)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has received the letters addressed to him on the 26th November last, by the clerks serving in Her Majesty's Prisons, and whether he is prepared to recommend to Her Majesty's Treasury the inclusion of these clerks in the new scheme for the Lower or Second Division?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. MATTHEWS,) Birmingham, E.Yes, Sir; I have received applications for an improvement in their pay and status from 72 of. the clerks employed in convict and local prisons. I have forwarded these memorials to the Treasury and have invited their favourable consideration of the case of the prison clerks. I am still in communication with the Treasury, but the matter is too complex to admit of the simple remedy proposed by the hon. Member. I have not, therefore, made the specific recommendation referred to.