§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the rules governing the number of letters that may be written by any one person to a prisoner; and how these have been applied in the case of Beryl Kennedy writing to an inmate in Winson Green prison.
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§ Mr. MellorInstructions to prison service staff about handling prisoners' correspondence have been published in Standing Order 5B, a copy of which has been placed in the Library.
Governors have discretion to limit the amount of mail received by a prisoner if the number of letters received causes delays in handling other prisoners' letters. Ms. Kennedy was writing on a daily basis and after being asked to reduce the volume of her correspondence it was judged necessary, so that other prisoners' mail would not be delayed, to return some letters to her.