Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to prevent (a) illegal drugs and (b) pornography entering prisons.

Andrew Selous

We use a range of robust searching and security measures to detect items of contraband both at the point of entry to the prison and concealed within the prison. We continue to explore new methods of preventing drugs coming into prisons, including using body scanners and training search dogs to detect new psychoactive substances.

Prisoners are allowed to purchase publications that are normally available through high street newsagents. There are strict controls over the publications available to prisoners, with prisons having the power to ban any material they deem unsuitable. Sex offenders are denied access to anything believed to be inappropriate or likely to affect their rehabilitation and governors may also confiscate items that present a threat to good order or discipline.

All IT and IT media that prisoners have access to is checked for illicit material, including pornography. USB ports are disabled and other security measures are put in place to ensure that prisoners cannot misuse such equipment.