§ MR. LAWSON (St. Pancras, W.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has received through the Prison Commissioners the Petition of the Storekeepers and Clerks in prisons; and, if so, whether he will assent to their request to include such officers in the Second Division Scheme?
§ MR. MATTHEWSYes, Sir; I have received such Petitions. There are strong reasons against including these officers in the Second Division Scheme, and their inclusion was not contemplated by the Treasury Minute referred to in their Petitions. The whole question of the pay and status of the clerical establishment of the prisons have recently been the subject of a careful and exhaustive inquiry, and I am not disposed to re-open the settlement which was arrived at after much consideration at the end of last year, and under which substantial advantages are given to this branch of the Service.