§ MR. CLAUDE HAYTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in the building of additional quarters for the fifty officers at Dartmoor Convict Prison, as land is available upon which the necessary accommodation could be provided by the Government, in order to remove the difficulty that working men in Princetown now have in securing houses at rents within their means, in consequence of the competition for house room in the township by the prison staff for whom the Government have hitherto failed to provide quarters; and whether he will furnish a Return of the number of officers of each of His Majesty's prisons who are not provided with quarters by the Government.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Akers-Douglas.) No progress has been made with the building of additional quarters at Dartmoor, as no funds for that purpose are available in the present financial year. When the Estimates for next year are being prepared the needs of Dartmoor, in this respect, shall be considered; but I must add a warning that there are other prisons which may have a stronger claim than Dartmoor, where the great majority of the officers are already provided with quarters. If my hon. friend moves for the Return he mentions I shall be prepared to give it.