§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if, in view of the fact that two publishing firms are to publish a book written by a prisoner currently serving a sentence in a top security prison, which is described by the publishers as an exposé of the prison system, he will take steps to inquire about the circumstances in which the book was written, and in which the text was communicated to the publishers;
(2) what is his policy on the disposal of earnings made by prisoners writing books for publication;
(3) if he will make a statement on the facilities provided to prisoners to write and publish books.
Mr. MilianIn certain circumstances a prisoner may be given authority to undertake literary work while serving a prison sentence. In the case of James Boyle, at present prisoner in the special unit at Her Majesty's Prison Barlinnie, I understand that permission was given to write autobiographical material during 1973 or early 1974. Since this was during the period of the previous Administration, I am not aware of the exact circumstances in which permission was given. I understand, however, that it was made clear to Mr. Boyle that there could be no question of publication and that the written material should not be taken out of the unit.
In September 1976 Boyle petitioned for permission to publish his work. Permission was refused and he was so informed in October 1976.
I am inquiring into the circumstances in which the written material was apparently passed over to a publishing firm. I have no authority to prevent publication of a book written in this way and would not think it appropriate that I should have. Finally, since it is not the practice to allow material written in prison to be published while the prisoner 664W concerned is still serving his sentence, it is not necessary for me to have any policy regarding the earnings from any such publication.