Prisons: Publications

(asked on 6th October 2017) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the speed with which books are passed to prisoners by means of designated providers.


Answered by
Sam Gyimah Portrait
Sam Gyimah
This question was answered on 18th October 2017

HM Prison and Probation Service’s (HMPPS) Public Protection Manual (Prison Service Instruction 18/2016) explains which materials are seen as inappropriate for prisoners to have in their possession.

The Manual contains a list of publications that are restricted for public protection purposes. This list of materials is not exhaustive given the ongoing process of identification, assessment and removal of inappropriate materials. For all publications not on the banned list, prison staff are required to consider the content against the criteria in the Manual. Governors of all prisons in England and Wales can restrict publications at their own discretion for good order and discipline, security and public protection purposes. Some prisons have developed an enhanced list of restricted publications since the Manual was published. Any decision to restrict material that is not listed in the Manual is made on a case-by-case basis by all prisons. HMPPS does not hold copies of any enhanced lists or records of individual governors’ decisions.

Materials including books may be restricted in prisons. This can happen in three ways:

  • the Public Protection Manual contains a list of materials to which no prisoner in any prison is allowed access;

  • the Manual also allows an individual prison to add to that list for the whole population of the prison, if local circumstances require it; and

  • materials not otherwise restricted may need to be withheld from individual prisoners if required by their offending behaviour or risk management needs.

We have put in place a system which, as part of the Incentives and Earned Privileges Policy (Prison Service Instruction 30/2013), enables books to be sent in by family and friends, either directly or via an approved retailer, either online or in high street shops. Prisoners also have access to public library services. In addition, as set out in Prisoner Retail Policy (Prison Service Instruction 23/2013) prisons also have the discretion to allow purchases to be made from catalogues, but it is at individual prison discretion if this service is offered at all, and if so which catalogues are used.

There are currently no set timelines for when items must reach the intended prisoner as security checks must be made before a book is handed over to the prisoner, although the expectation would be as soon as it is practically possible. The screening of incoming goods, including books, is necessary to combat illicit commodities being smuggled into prisons.

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