§ SIR HOWARD VINCENT (Sheffield, Central)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether a Comptroller of Prison Industries has been appointed; and, in such case, who the new functionary is, and what his salary, and if he has been given distinctly to understand that he must be careful to make no attempt to utilise his forced labour to undersell or otherwise compete in the outside market in this country with the productions of free labour?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Sir MATTHEW WHITE RIDLEY,) Lancashire, BlackpoolIn accordance with the strong recommendation of the Prisons Committee, a Comptroller of prison industries has been appointed by me. The comptroller is Mr. James Duncan, who had, as store accountant in the prison department, been engaged in duties of a similar nature previous to his appointment, and his salary is on a scale rising from £700 to £800. The Comptroller will have no power to make arrangements for utilising prison labour without first obtaining the approval of the Prison Commissioners, and the Commissioners will be guided in their action by Section 11 of the Act of 1877, which provides that due regard shall be had to the avoidance of undue pressure on or competition with any particular trade or industry.