§ MR. LUTTRELLI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will take into consideration the desire for an amelioration of the pensions of the prison officers, and if necessary, make recommendations to the Treasury?
§ SIR MATTHEW WHITE RIDLEYI have already given the fullest consideration to the petitions which have been submitted to me by prison officers for an improvement in the terms of their superannuation, and regret that I do not see my way to propose, or to recommend the Treasury to propose, the alteration in the law which would be necessary to place prison officers on a better footing than other civil servants in this matter. As the hon. Member is no doubt aware, the conditions of service of prison officers were fully inquired into by a Departmental Committee in 1891; this Committee, while recommending improvements in those conditions in other respects, some of which have been effected, reported against any alteration in the pension scale, and the considerations which led them to that decision remain unaltered.