Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2014-04-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what cultural events have been organised in prison libraries in the last year.

Jeremy Wright

Prison library providers ensure that the range of reading and reference material available in each library reflects the needs and diverse nature of the prisoners held.

Prisons holding a high proportion of foreign national prisoners who are speakers of other languages offer a range of relevant texts within their libraries.

Alternatively, Prisoners can order newspapers for personal use. Prisoners cover the cost of any newspaper they personally order, Newspapers based on the needs of the population, will be available for general use in the library.

Prison libraries will facilitate a range of cultural activities such as reading and creative writing groups, special interest clubs, outreach work to families as well as exhibiting art, hosting writers, artists and speakers on subjects of interest. Additional support may be brought in from local community groups and charities.

Information about what particular foreign language and Welsh books are held within each prison library, which newspapers are stocked, and what cultural events have been organised, is not collected centrally and could only be obtained through local enquiries at each prison. This would incur disproportionate cost.