§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions since 1971 his Department has insisted on vetting a newspaper article or television and radio programmes.
§ Mr. JohnOur responsibility in this area relates solely to occasions when writers and producers, etc., are publishing articles or making programmes at Home Office establishments. It was the practice in the past to grant certain facilities in Prison Service establishments on the condition that articles or programmes should be submitted prior to publication. I regret that information on the frequency of such submissions since 1971 is not available. This condition, however, no longer applies in respect of articles for newspapers and periodicals; but radio and television programmes will continue to be previewed where appropriate, in order to ensure that considerations of security and personal privacy are met.
§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) on how many occasions since 1971 a newspaper has been asked to refrain from publishing an article or to amend an article on pain of being refused his Department's co-operation in future;
(2) on how many occasions since 1971 his Department has asked that a television or radio programme not be transmitted or be amended, on pain of being 611W refused his Department's co-operation in future.