§ 68. Mr. Kirkwoodasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is now in a position to state when Duke Street 2673 Prison, Glasgow, is going to be pulled down; and whether, in view of the fact that his Department have been pressed for the last seven years to remove this prison, and that his predecessor informed the House that the ground for a new prison was available but that building could not begin owing to the building trade being engaged on the Empire Exhibition, which has now finished, he will expedite the pulling down and rebuilding of this prison?
§ Mr. ColvilleA site for a new prison was acquired in March, 1937, and the building of the new prison has been deferred since then, not because of the Empire Exhibition, but because of the pressure generally upon the building industry in Scotland, of the need for concentrating on the urgent problem of housing, and of the heavy building programme already in hand for the Prisons Department. After a careful review of the present and prospective demands upon the building industry, I have decided that the erection of the new prison must be postponed for at least another year, but provision is being made for the preparation of the detailed plans and specifications during that year.