HL Deb 04 March 1981 vol 417 c1496WA
Lord Avebury

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the rule that prisoners may not receive visits from persons who did not know them prior to their imprisonment is subject to any exception in the case of a foreign prisoner with no friends or relations in the United Kingdom, where an offer is made by a stranger to visit him.

Lord Belstead

Foreign prisoners may receive visits from their countries' official representatives. In most prisons, prison visitors or voluntary associates are available to visit, on request, any prisoner, regardless of his nationality. Should a prisoner have reason to request a visit by someone else previously unknown to him, the governor has discretion to permit it, unless the prisoner is in Category A.