§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will issue an instruction to governors of prisons in England and Wales that parole, "lifers" and other reports on prisoners belonging to non-Christian faiths should not be prepared by Christian chaplains unless there is no visiting minister available, and that, when any such report is required, the governor will contact the relevant visiting minister to ascertain whether he or she is ready to prepare the report.
§ Baroness BlatchResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Lord Avebury from the Director General of the Prison Service, Mr. Richard Tilt, dated 9th July 1996.
Lady Blatch has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking for an instruction to governors about report writing on prisoners of other faiths.
In order that the report on any prisoner should be of benefit, it must be written by someone who knows the prisoner well. There is nothing to prevent that report being written by a visiting minister of the same faith as the prisoner. Sometimes, however, the chaplain would know the prisoner better than the visiting minister and the prisoner has confidence in the relationship with the chaplain. In those circumstances, it would be important for the report to be made by the more appropriate person. There are no plans to alter these arrangements.