§ Mr. Peter BottomleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment he has made of 839W whether the new procedures for examining and checking category A inmates and their family visitors will allow him to grant more open visits; [20369]
(2) when his Department received recommendations on modifying the requirements for closed visits for families of category A inmates in prison; and what assessment he has made of the advantages of implementing the recommendations. [20368]
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility 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 Richard tilt to Mr. Peter Bottomley, dated 20 March 1997:
841WThe Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about closed visits.840WA policy of mandatory closed visits for all exceptional risk category A prisoners held in special secure units (SSUs) was introduced in June 1995. No new procedures for the searching of prisoners and their visitors have been introduced since that time.In 1996, the Prison Service asked Sir Donald Acheson to examine what effect the regime in the SSUs at Belmarsh, Full Sutton and Whitemoor might have on the health of prisoners. The report was presented in June 1996 and included the recommendation that prisoners should have access to open visits with members of their immediate family. A copy of the report was recently placed in the Library.Sir Donald Acheson's recommendation was considered in the light of the need to maintain the highest levels of security in SSUs and took into account humanitarian concerns. The recommendation was qualified by the assertion that it should be possible for the Prison Service to devise a system of open visits which prevented the passage of unauthorised items. The Prison Service concluded that closed visits are the only guaranteed means of preventing the passage of such items and therefore has not accepted the recommendation.