§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why typewriters are not allowed in prisons in England and Wales, and whether they will review the prohibition given that typewriters may be used by patients in special hospitals, and that prisons in France and the USA do not find it necessary to impose such a restriction.
529WA
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Glenarthur)There is no absolute prohibition on typewriters in prisons in England and Wales but their use may only be permitted for certain limited purposes and in the circumstances set out in Circular Instruction 5/1976. The restrictions currently imposed on typewriters properly reflect the particular security, staffing and resource considerations applying in our prisons, which are not directly comparable with those which obtain in special hospitals or prisons abroad.