§ LORD BALCARRES (Lancashire, Chorley)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that, with the exception of clerks, all ranks of established prison officers including the storekeepers who give their 1254 whole time to the service, are provided with quarters or receive an allowance in lieu; and whether he can see his way to redress the inequality between the clerks and the other officers?
§ SIR MATTHEW WHITE RIDLEYYes, Sir, I am quite aware of this. The conditions of service of the prison clerks have always been considered separately from those of the prison officers strictly so-called, and their scale of pay has been fixed and from time to time revised with full knowledge of the fact that they were not provided with quarters or an allowance in lieu I cannot admit that there is any such inequality as is suggested in the Question, nor I am prepared, in view of certain improvements which have recently been made in the pay and prospects of these officers, to make any recommendation on the point.