§ MR. EDWARD KNATCHBULL-HUGESSEN (Rochester)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, having regard to the system of payment of warders of prisons, if it is the case that the principal warders of Borstal Prison, commencing under the new scale, will lose £8 on the first six years' service; and, if so, why this reduction has been 1463 made; on what grounds assistant warders of over ten years' service, when promoted, get no immediate increase of pay, whereas they would get an increase if under ten years' service; is it the case that warders are sometimes on night duty, and in the open air, for more than twelve hours without a break, and that the civil guard, in addition to the twelve hours a day, have to be on night guard once in nine or ten days, and that, by reason of this extra duty, men are frequently deprived of the usual half-holiday on Saturday; will the three days' extra leave be granted to the civil guard, as well as to the rest of the staff at Borstal; and if there is any reason for the scale of pension being so low as one-sixtieth instead of one-fiftieth of the annual pay for each year served, and for there being no limit of service at which the staff would be entitled to a pension?
§ MR. MATTHEWSIt is the fact that under the old practice a warder, at his maximum of £87, on promotion to the post of principal warder commenced at the minimum scale of that rank, which was £83, but to which were added the increments earned in the lower rank, namely, £14, making his initial salary as principal warder £97. Under the new scale a warder, on promotion to the rank of principal warder, commences at the minimum pay of £93, but rises by £2 to a maximum of £105, in lieu of his former maximum of £103. The Treasury decided that the practice of carrying over increments must cease; and the new scale was devised to compensate these deserving officers as far as possible for this loss. Assistant warders who have served ten years receive an increment for the next three years of service. This increment brings their pay above the minimum of a warder's salary; and on promotion they carry with them the higher pay they are then receiving, but receive no increase until they have served a year as warders. Warders are never on night duty in the open air for twelve hours without a break. Each officer on night duty gets a rest of about three hours during the night, and is exempted from day duty. The hours of actual duty of the civil guard average about nine per day, in addition to which he takes his turn of sleeping in the prison as a reserve guard, but is not called up except in case of emergency. Prison officers are not 1464 deprived of the Saturday half-holiday, save under exceptional circumstances. The Departmental Committee appointed to inquire into the grievances of these officers did not recommend additional leave, and it has not been granted; nor did they recommend any change in the rate of superannuation.