§ Mr. Biggs-Davisonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether it was with his authority that a Home Office spokesman said in March, 1961, that the proposal to build a new prison at Hill Hall, Theydon Mount, had been finally decided and that any objections should have been made at the local public inquiry into an earlier proposal to build the new prison at Thornwood.
§ Mr. R. A. ButlerI am not aware that any officer of my Department made such a statement. My right hon. Friend the Minister of Housing and Local10W Government and I have had under consideration representations about the siting of a prison at Hill Hall. I had proposed to the county council that the matter should be further examined at a public meeting; but in the particular circumstances I have agreed that the better course will be for the objections to be heard at a public local inquiry for which my right hon. Friend is making arrangements.