§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the(a) national origin and (b) first language is of each (i) convicted and (ii) remand prisoner held in the special secure unit at HMP Belmarsh; what translation facilities are available for prisoners for (A) routine prison administrative and matters connected with good order in the prison, (B) medical examinations, (C) legal visits and (D) family visits; and how many non-English language books (1) are held by HMP Belmarsh and (2) have been borrowed in the past six months by prisoners held in the special secure unit. [52463]
§ Beverley HughesThe facility at Belmarsh prison is designated as a high secure unit. The number of prisoners currently held in the high secure unit is 34. The national origin of those convicted is Colombian (one); United Kingdom (seven). The national origin of those unconvicted is Algerian (two); Belgium (one): Spanish (one); Egyptian (two); Irish (six); Jamaican (one); Turkish (two); United Kingdom (10). One person has declined to declare a national origin.
All prisoners in the high secure unit are able to speak English. Translation facilities are currently available in Arabic, Spanish and Turkish to enable prisoners to communicate via the telephone or, where security issues arise, during visits. Belmarsh has continuous translation facilities for attendance at the prison to carry out 600W simultaneous translation of visits and telephone calls. These facilities are also available where there is a need for staff to communicate with a prisoner on a medical or induction interview.
Belmarsh also has the use of telephone translation facilities. Where circumstances arise, Belmarsh would also use other prisoners speaking the same language to assist in translation, or use staff who are able to speak foreign languages. There is also a contract translation service for use with mail and other written material. No translation service is provided for legal visits, on the grounds that the visiting legal representative would make such arrangements. Induction packs for newly arrived prisoners are available in a limited number of foreign languages.
Belmarsh has approximately 700 non-English books in the library. Records are not kept to show the number of such books that have been borrowed by prisoners held in the high secure unit. All prisoners have access to the library and may borrow books.