§ Mr. TOUCHEasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he could say whether all the claims for expenses of the men of the Metropolitan police who went to Tonypandy in November have now been satisfied?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for the HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. Churchill)I am informed by the Commissioner of Police that all the claims for expenses of the Metropolitan police sent to Tonypandy in November last have—so far as the men are concerned—been satisfied.
§ Mr. TOUCHEasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his attention had been called to the character of the food supplied by the official caterer for the Metropolitan police lodged at Carnarvon; if he is aware that it was of such a quality that several of the men were obliged to refuse it and seek their meals elsewhere at different refreshment places; will these men be granted a refreshment allowance; and will he cause inquiry to be made into the whole system of arrangements for police catering on special occasions, so as to avoid in future a recurrence of hardships such as were experienced at Sydney Street and in Wales?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLThe catering for the Metropolitan police at Carnarvon was not done by the Commissioner of Metropolitan Police, but by the local authorities. In the Commissioner's opinion it was so unsatisfactory that he intimated to the police while they were on duty at Carnarvon that they could purchase their own meals; and that, to enable them to do so, they would receive full subsistence and also lodging allowances. It is not always possible to ensure when Metropolitan police are sent to other parts of the country, especially when they have to go at a few hours' notice, that they shall be suitably accommodated and fed; but in cases where the accommodation and feeding have not 1658 been satisfactory this has been taken into consideration in settling the allowances granted to them.
§ Mr. TOUCHEasked if steps are being taken to insure that when contingents of Metropolitan police are sent to other parts of the country proper arrangements will in future be made for their accommodation, so that there may be no repetition of the experiences at Carnarvon, where the men were lodged in a vermin-infected warehouse which had been empty for many years, and no sufficient attempt had been made to clean it for police occupation, with the result that many of the men preferred to sleep in the open air, some on benches along the beach and some on the footways in the public street; and was the Chief Commissioner satisfied with the arrangements made?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLAs stated in reply to the hon. Member's other question, the arrangements for the accommodation of the police at Carnarvon were made by the local authorities, and were, in the Commissioner's opinion, not satisfactory. It is not always possible to take steps to ensure, when Metropolitan police are sent to other parts of the country, that they shall be suitably accommodated and fed, but when the accommodation and feeding prove not satisfactory, they will get compensation.