§ MR. J. A. PEASE (Northumberland, Tyneside)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Reservists have been taken from the prison warders and civil guards in Her Majesty's convict prisons, and to what extent have their places been filled up; will he explain why at the present time only six warders are now employed at the West Quarries of the Portland convict establishment to supervise 170 convicts, whereas the recognised proportion is one warder for every ten convicts; and whether the absence of a larger staff has tended to produce insubordination; and how many cases at Portland of flogging for prison offences have there been during the last six months.
§ * THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Sir M. WHITE RIDLEY, Lancashire, Blackpool)Fifty-three Reservists have been taken from the prison warders and convict guards in convict prisons. Their places have been filled with one exception. The number of convicts employed in the West Quarries is on the average 201, and the number of officers employed to supervise them is seventeen. This is one to twelve. The proportion of one warder to every 875 ten convicts includes officers sick, on leave, and on escort, and is a fixed proportion of staff to cover all contingencies. The percentage of staff at Portland and other convict prisons has, in fact, been increased, and is over 10 per cent. There is no foundation for the suggestion that the absence of a larger staff has tended to produce insubordination. The number of cases of corporal punishment at Portland during the last six months was five.