asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will review their policy on the supply of newspapers to inmates in penal institutions.

My Lords, the Prison Service only recently asked governors whether they should continue to provide one free newspaper for every 10 prisoners to help them to maintain contact with outside events. Some prisoners buy their own newspapers. All have access to television, the Majority in their own cells. The revised instruction, issued in May 2005, reflected doubts about the effectiveness of the old policy. While giving governors greater flexibility, it lists some key factors to consider in deciding whether to continue the current provision.

My Lords, what savings are expected to be achieved by this na-ve approach to a cost-cutting exercise? How can the Minister justify it, given our very high prison population, very low literacy rate in prison, very low spending on education in the Prison Service and the fact that, in some prisons, people are banged up for 23 hours a day? The one means by which they can keep in touch with the community is being removed. Surely supplying newspapers and keeping in touch with the community is part of the rehabilitative process.

My Lords, we recognise absolutely the importance of newspapers in our prisons. While it must be honestly said that the original proposition was dreamt up by a staff member who thought it would contribute to savings, there is no suggestion that that will necessarily be the case. The desire was to ensure that governors had local flexibility. In consultation with governors, that was found to be a highly desirable objective. The total annual cost of providing one newspaper per 10 prisoners is estimated to be £1.2 million.

My Lords, is the £1.2 million which has hitherto been spent on the provision of free newspapers available to governors for other purposes, including other similar means by which prisoners can communicate with the outside world? Or are governors now at liberty to spend the £1.2 million on any other items within their discretion?

My Lords, the £1.2 million is a global figure, but it will be at the discretion of local governors to decide how best to spend money that they would otherwise have spent on providing one free paper per 10 prisoners in terms of satisfying their information demands. It needs to be understood that since the old policy was introduced some 15 years ago, there has been a massive increase in the availability of televisions, both in-cell and in general association areas.

It is also thought that in some prisons spending may increase as prison governors and staff decide to target better the budget they have available for newspapers in the prison.

My Lords, does this apply to female prisoners as well?

My Lords, my understanding is that this is a general prison instruction.

My Lords, can the Minister tell us which newspapers are popular in prisons?

My Lords, I suspect that the noble Lord can probably guess which newspaper is most popular in prisons, but it is not my intention to advertise and promote these things from the Dispatch Box.

My Lords, returning to the issue of the use that is made of any savings if this step is to be taken, does my noble friend accept that there is a great difference between redeploying these sums into, for example, literacy or educational schemes for prisoners, and simply putting them into the general pot of administration and custody services within the Prison Service?

My Lords, how they use the money in their local budget is at the governors' discretion. I get the sense from your Lordships' House that people value local discretion, and that is important. If the governor of a particular prison thinks it wise to spend more on providing newspapers, particularly black and minority ethnic newspapers, which are probably more important in some prisons than others, that will be at the governor's local discretion. There have been no complaints, as far as we are aware, about the change in policy; it has been broadly welcomed.