§ 35. Mr. HUDSONasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the officers recently made Class 1 instructors in the various local prisons are the first of that class made in His Majesty's local prisons service; whether, on their appointments, they were informed that the regulations under which they were appointed would be altered; and, if not, will he advise His Majesty's Prison Commissioners to restore to those officers the privileges which have been taken away?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for the HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. McKenna)The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The promotions were notified on 2nd July, and on 12th July Governors were informed that these officers would be excused evening duty and all discipline duty, except on alternate Saturday afternoons and Sundays, when their presence would be required owing to only half the staff being on duty. Before promotion to be Class I. instructors, they had been liable to do discipline duty and evening duty throughout the week; but it was hoped that it might have been possible, in the case of the comparatively few officers selected for Class I., to dispense with all requirements for discipline duty, and this was notified by Standing Order of April last. Unfortunately, however, experience has shown that a complete dispensation cannot be given as a right in all prisons, where it now appears that it would throw an undue strain on the other members of the staff. It was necessary, therefore, to cancel the Standing Order of April almost immediately after the first appointments were made in the beginning of July. I see no sufficient reason for altering the present system.