§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether prisoners in England and Wales are allowed to peruse their personal files, and if so, under what conditions.
§ Baroness BlatchResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to reply.
Letter to Lord Avebury from the Director General of the Prison Service, Mr Derek Lewis, dated 28 February 1995.
Lady Blatch has asked me to reply to your recent Question about whether prisoners in England and Wales are allowed to peruse their personal files, and if so, under what conditions.
The general policy is that information held about a prisoner should be disclosed on request to him or her unless there are clear and justifiable security grounds, including the prevention of crime or the protection of third parties. The grounds on which information is withheld should be explained to the prisoner.