Although the Ministry of Defence and Imperial War Museum work closely together on various projects, the Ministry of Defence does not directly fund or support any of the Imperial War Museum’s activities; the Museum receives its core Grant in Aid through the Department for Culture Media and Sport, as a Non Departmental Public Body. The IWM is currently in discussion with the Department about its programme of change, including changes to how core collections including books are accessed at IWM London. A programme of digitisation of these core collections is in train so that those across the UK and further afield who are not able to visit the museum sites in person, can engage with IWM’s subject matter and collection. The IWM is also looking at a number of options around access to its collections. All accessioned collection items, and some (non-accessioned) books, ephemera, will remain at or under the museum’s direct management and will continue to be accessible by appointment. However the option of a possible transfer to other institutions of some of the non-accessioned materials currently held in the library which are not part of its core collection has been raised, so that these might be accessible elsewhere. Throughout discussions the IWM has remained fully committed to maintaining its presence in Manchester, London and Cambridgeshire.

DCMS continues to work closely and positively with IWM. The IWM remain fully committed to maintaining IWMs presence in Manchester, London and Cambridgeshire. The IWM are considering changes to how core collections including books are accessed at IWM London, and a programme of digitisation of these core collections is in train so that those across the UK and further afield who are not able to visit the museum sites in person, can engage with IWMs subject matter.

All accessioned collection items, and some (non-accessioned) books, ephemera, etc. will remain at or under the museum’s direct management and will continue to be accessible by appointment. However, IWM is also looking at a number of options, including possible transfer to other institutions for the materials currently held in IWMs library that are not part of its core (accessioned) collection, so that these might still be accessible to the public.

The Prison Library Service aims to ensure that prisoners have access to a similar catalogue of books that are available to readers in the community, through a request and loans service.

At Friday 18 July 2014, HMP Leeds had a book stock of 12,720 and HMP Wakefield had a book stock of 12,469.

All prisoners at HM Prison Drake Hall have access to the prison library or its outreach service, in accordance with Prison Service Instruction 45/2011 on the Prison Library Service.

The opening times of the prison library are as shown below.

The average prison libraries spend for each prisoner for 2012-13 (the latest year for which figures are available) is £105 for the male prison estate and £134 for the female prison estate. The combined cost for each prisoner (male and female) is £106.

The figures are based on the average male and female population figures for 2012-13 and the designation of prisons into the male or female estate according to their major function as at 31 March 2013.

Costs have been drawn from NOMS central accounting records, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Prison library services are provided by the local authority library service for all public sector prisons in a way that is consistent with that available to library users in the wider community. Library services also may be commissioned locally by prisons to meet the individual needs of the local prisoner population.

The Prison Service has always recognised the importance of reading and literature in the rehabilitative process, and the positive effects these have on prisoners. Every prison has a library which is available to all prisoners to make sure they have access to books and other material for education and training purposes.

A breakdown of the spend on prison libraries is not available from the National Offender Management Service’s central accounting system.

The Government remains committed to making publicly funded and published research freely and openly available. In the long term we believe the most effective form of Open Access (OA) will be Gold OA. I last commented on this subject in November 2013 in the Government’s response to the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee report on OA and this answer updates on progress since that statement.

I was very pleased that in May 2014 the Institute of Physics (IoP) Publishing, a major publisher of academic papers, introduced an ‘offsetting’ arrangement that will allow institutions to publish more open access papers without incurring additional costs. I strongly encourage other publishers to follow the IoP Publishing’s lead.

Further, the ‘Access to Research’ initiative was launched in February 2014 through the support of the publishing community. It allows students, independent researchers and small businesses to access many of the world’s best academic papers through their local libraries.

We intend to maintain this level of progress and I am pleased that Universities UK (UUK) have agreed to take on a co-ordinating role for the continued implementation of OA policy in the UK. This follows a recommendation in the Finch Group’s report “Review of progress in Implementing the Recommendations of the Finch Report”, UUK are in the process of setting up a group which will consist of key stakeholders similar to that of the Finch Group.

Additionally, the Research Sector Transparency Board (RSTB) which I chair advises Government on how to increase access to research data. My intention is that the RSTB will also continue to play a role in OA and preservation of scientific data.

In relation to confidentiality clauses, this Department continues to monitor the situation and is encouraged by recent developments in this area.

Finally, I wish to record my appreciation for the achievements of Ron Egginton, our lead official on OA who sadly and suddenly died on 8 June 2014. His expertise and commitment was instrumental in the progress that has been achieved in making the UK the leading major nation on OA.

Higher education institutions are independent, autonomous bodies. As such, they are responsible for their own procurement policies and the transparency of their processes. Universities are able to draw upon the Higher Education Procurement Academy, a sector-led initiative to improve expertise and capacity in UK university procurement.

The requested information is not held centrally and would need to be collated through inquiries at each prison and with each prison library provider in England and Wales. This would incur disproportionate cost.

The Prison Service has always recognised the importance of reading and literature in the rehabilitative process, and the positive effects these have on prisoners. Every prison has a library, which is available to all prisoners to ensure they have access to books and other material for education and training purposes.

The following table shows the organisations that provide and fund library services in each prison. The table also shows the available information in relation to the allocated budget for prison library services over the past four years, broken down by prison and in total.

In the case of Wealstun and Isis, the reduction in spending is due to initial set up costs in previous financial years.

For prisons in Wales, the reduction in spend is due to the change of stock rotation that were implemented in 2011 in line with Welsh library service standards. Learning and skills managers re-negotiated the capitation funds

and this resulted in a reduction in cost but not a reduction in opening hours or quality of material provided.

In respect of privately-managed prisons, contracts awarded before 2011 include library provision as part of the overall custodial service. The break down of these

contract costs is commercially confidential, and is therefore not available and is not shown in the overall total. Prison contracts awarded since 2011 do have identified levels of funding for prison libraries and these are shown in the table.

Prison Service Instruction 45/2011 states that censorship will not usually be exercised except in the case of offensive or illegal material. Some materials may be banned by the prison governor on a case-by-case basis.

The Custodial Public Protection Manual contains a list of publications that prisoners are not allowed to possess. It focuses on child sex offending. No books on the list are obtainable through prison libraries. Apart from this, the Ministry of Justice does not maintain a list of books which are not allowed to be kept in prison libraries.

The Prison Service has always recognised the importance of reading and literature in the rehabilitative process, and the positive effects these have on prisoners. Every prison has a library, which is available to all prisoners to ensure they have access to books and other material for education and training purposes.

The following table shows the organisations that provide and fund library services in each prison. The table also shows the available information in relation to the allocated budget for prison library services over the past four years, broken down by prison and in total.

In the case of Wealstun and Isis, the reduction in spending is due to initial set up costs in previous financial years.

For prisons in Wales, the reduction in spend is due to the change of stock rotation that were implemented in 2011 in line with Welsh library service standards. Learning and skills managers re-negotiated the capitation funds

and this resulted in a reduction in cost but not a reduction in opening hours or quality of material provided.

In respect of privately-managed prisons, contracts awarded before 2011 include library provision as part of the overall custodial service. The break down of these

contract costs is commercially confidential, and is therefore not available and is not shown in the overall total. Prison contracts awarded since 2011 do have identified levels of funding for prison libraries and these are shown in the table.

Prison library services are, in the majority of prisons, provided by Public Library Authorities. Prison libraries enable prisoners to receive, subject to the constraints of operating within a custodial environment, a service equivalent to that provided for library users in the community.

Prison library services are, in the majority of prisons, provided by Public Library Authorities. Prison libraries enable prisoners to receive, subject to the constraints of operating within a custodial environment, a service equivalent to that provided for library users in the community.

We have no plans to make changes to these services.

1. The prisoner regime includes a programme to allow access to the library once a week for those not attending education. The implementation of New Ways of Working, which includes the introduction of a new Core Day, will increase the opportunity for prisoners to access the library.

2. All in-use cells on the High Security Unit/Special Secure Unit are appropriately furnished in compliance with national guidelines, which are also included as part of the unit’s operating standards. The cells are also equipped to the specification required for accommodating Category A prisoners. The accommodation on the unit is inspected monthly, to ensure compliance and to maintain decency; this system is audited.

3. The Governor has a programme of visits throughout the establishment; this includes visits to the HSU/SSU. The requirement for a weekly visit is completed by the Governor or the Deputy Governor, and the visits will ensure that all prisoners and staff are frequently seen and any emerging issues are heard and noted. These visits are now recorded for audit and inspection purposes.

Prisoners in all prisons in England and Wales have access to libraries and have had access in each of the last five years.

Prison Service Instruction 45/2011 requires every prison to provide a library; to allow every prisoner to borrow and exchange library books; and to ensure that prisoners have access to mandatory publications.