Prisoners: Computers

Justice written question – answered at on 9 September 2010.

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Photo of Philip Davies Philip Davies Conservative, Shipley

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners have been provided laptop computers in each of the last five years.

Photo of Crispin Blunt Crispin Blunt Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice) (Prisons and Probation)

The number of laptop computers issued to prisoners is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by asking each prison to analyse records held locally.

There are two main reasons for the issue of laptop computers to prisoners:

(1) education-higher education/Open University-type course work, usually used under supervision in a classroom environment, although computers are also issued on a personal basis to a small number of risk-assessed prisoners for use in cell where this is considered appropriate; and

(2) access to justice-to assist in the preparation of defence, appeal, or related legal work in those cases where it is satisfactorily demonstrated that the refusal to grant such facilities would raise a genuine risk of prejudicing the legal proceedings.

In addition to the risk assessment process, any computer that prisoners have access to is subject to strict security controls. Any laptop computer issued for in-cell use will be restricted to specific applications with no unauthorised access to external programs, including the internet.

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