Written question asked by Mark Oaten (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 22 October 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 25 October 2007. It was answered by Lord Hanson of Flint (Labour) on Thursday, 25 October 2007 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Prisons: Visits

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisons in England and Wales participate in child-friendly visit schemes.

Answer: A new Prison Service Order was recently issued to prisons which emphasises the need to make social visits as child friendly as possible, although there is currently no performance standard that requires prisons to operate specific child or family day schemes. As a result, we do not collect information about how many have been run. However, while practice and provision varies across the prison estate, a growing number of establishments are running schemes to ensure meaningful contact between prisoners and their children.

Secondary information