§ Mr. GINNELLasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state the average number of persons in prison in England and Wales ten years ago and now; the amount of increase or diminution in the annual cost of the prison service now as compared with ten years ago; the scale of pay of the Prisons Board, governors, officials, and warders, respectively, then and now, with the present periods and amounts of increase in each class; and, if the warder service is recruited from police pensioners, what their scale of pay is and whether they are satisfactory?
§ Mr. McKENNAThe total annual commitments to prisons are given in the annual reports of the Prison Commissioners. The following is a comparison between the daily average population in 1904–5 and the average during the current year up to date:—
1904–5. 1914–15. In Local prisons 18,169 12,651 In Convict prisons 3,191 2,552 In State inebriate reformatories 68 65 In Borstal institutions — 870 In Preventive detention prisons — 245 21,428 16,383 The total estimate submitted for the years 1904–5 and 1914, respectively, was:—
£ 1904–5 … … … … 735,762 1914–15 … … … … 783,890 This shows an increase of £48,128 in 1914–15. The scale of pay of all ranks from the Prison Board downwards, with the respective increments, is set out in the Annual Estimates. The warder service is not recruited from police pensioners.