Sessional_Paper_1948 — Page 33

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PRISONS DEPARTMENT

95. We are of the opinion that the pay and conditions of service of officers in the Prisons Department require considerable revision in order that the Department may function efficiently upon modern lines. In the United Kingdom the prison service is on rates of pay practically identical with those of the various Police Forces and we recommend that both services should receive similar treatment here.

96. We propose that in future the rank and file of the Prisons Department should not be restricted to Indian officers but should be open to local recruits as well.

We recommend the abolition of the grades of guards and assistant warders. After the satisfactory completion of an initial training period of one year, a recruit would become a warder, and on promotion would proceed through the grades of assistant principal warder to principal warder, assistant chief warder and chief warder. Suitably qualified warders employed as drivers, electricians or locksmiths should in addition receive non-pensionable technician pay at the rate of $15 per month while so employed.

97. We recommend the creation of a grade of prison officers grade II to which suitable local candidates who have obtained the Hong Kong School Leaving Certificate should be admitted as the result of a competitive examination. Promotion to prison officer grade I from grade II should depend upon the passing of an efficiency bar. We recommend that such overseas officers as it is necessary to recruit should be men with previous experience in the prison service and that they should enter as prison officers grade I and serve a three years' probation. Before confirmation to the permanent establish- ment they should be required to pass the first two examinations in Cantonese. We propose an efficiency bar in the scale for prison officers grade I between $7,200 per annum and $7,680 per annum. Promotion from prison officer grade I to principal officer and from principal officer to assistant chief officer and chief officer should be dependent upon vacancies.

98. We recommend a three years' probation period for assistant superin- tendents who should be required to obtain an adequate knowledge of Cantonese before confirmation in the permanent establishment. We have placed the initial point of entry of an assistant superintendent of Prisons into the professional officers' scale considerably higher than in the case of an assistant superintendent of Police in view of the later age at which the former is normally recruited. We recommend a through scale for both assistant superintendents and superin- tendents with an efficiency bar between $15,600 per annum and $16,320 per

annum.

99. We have recommended increased scales for the female staff of the Prison and are of the opinion that future candidates should be required to have the Hong Kong School Leaving Certificate before appointment by selection.

100. We recommend that male and female probation officers should be paid at the same rates as uncertificated teachers and that on obtaining a diploma in social science they should be placed on the same scale as certificated teachers. We propose for the trade instructors in the Prison and in the Reformatory the same scale as for a grade II foreman until they acquire the same qualifications as instructors at the Trade School; if they possess or obtain these qualifications they should be allowed to proceed up the scale to $5,100 per annum,

FIRE BRIGADE

101. We recommend that firemen, foremen and head foremen in the Fire Brigade should be given similar rates of pay to constables, corporals and sergeants in the Police Force. We propose that fire engine and ambulance drivers, motor mechanics, fitters and floating deck staff should be trained as firemen and given the same pay as firemen. We recommend that ambulance motor mechanics, and fitters should be granted non-pensionable technician pay at the rate of $15 per month and fire engine drivers who are certified competent to handle heavy appliances should receive non-pensionable technician pay at the rate of $20 per month. We consider that fire engine drivers in the Air Services Department should also receive technician pay at the latter rate.

102. We understand that the responsibilities of telephone clerks and senior telephone clerks in the Fire Brigade are greater than those of telephone clerks in other departments. We consider that they should be renamed watchkeepers grades I and II and have recommended appropriate salary scales;

103. The initial salary proposed for sub-officers is the same as that for Police sub-inspectors grade II but in view of the longer training and experience required before a sub-offcer is qualified to be in charge of a station, we have proposed a longer scale rising from $3,000 per annum by varying increments