§ Miss Maynardasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total numbers of prisoners receiving visits under more closely supervised conditions than other prisoners; how many of these prisoners are Irish Republican prisoners; and, of the remaining number, how many are temporarily in this category for the foreseeable future.
§ Mr. Merlyn Rees84 prisoners have their visits in closely supervised conditions in the interests of security, and of these 71 are thought to have Republican links. The need for individual prisoners to have visits under these conditions is regularly reviewed and it is impossible to say how long particular prisoners will be subject to them.
§ Miss Maynardasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why, at Wakefield Prison, there is a need to place the partition between the tables when Irish Republican prisoners have visitors; whether there is any prohibition against physical contact between prisoners and 206W visitors during visits; and, if it is necessary for the semi-screened conditions to exist, whether it is also necessary to put prison officers in the room at the same time as the visits take place.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesWhen visits take place at Wakefield to prisoners who for security reasons need to have their visits especially closely supervised, a partition below the table and extending less than a foot above the table separates the visitor and the prisoner. The purpose is to make it more difficult for unauthorised articles to be passed unobserved. The partition does not remove the need for the visits to be in the sight and hearing of a prison officer. Prisoners and their visitors are allowed to embrace at the beginning and end of visits held under these conditions.