§ Mrs. Bridget PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the prison service is now in a position to make a decision on when it will implement its business plan commitment to honour the payment of travel costs on second visits to prisoners.
Mr. Peter LoydResponsibility for these matters has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from D. Lewis to Mrs. Bridget Prentice, dated 22 February 1994:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the proposed extension of the assisted prison visits scheme to cover the second statutory monthly visit.In line with the commitment, given in the Prison Service's Business Plan for 1993–94, the assisted visits scheme for England and Wales will be increased from 5 April 1994 to enable prisoners' close relatives on income support to visit once every 14 days.