§ Mr. John GarrettTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions prison inmates have been offered ex gratia payments if they would cease making allegations of improper treatment in prison and would undertake not to seek further publicity.
§ Mrs. RumboldPayments are sometimes made, on legal advice in the normal course of litigation, in settlement of claims by prison inmates. In a few cases, the agreement to settle has been subject to an undertaking that the prisoner would not take any further legal proceedings on the claim or seek publicity about the terms of the settlement. Records are not kept of the number of cases in which "no publicity clauses" have been used, but they are believed to be rare, and their use is being reviewed.