Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the findings were of the research commissioned by the equalities policy lead in his Department into the needs of male and female prisoners to determine whether they are sufficiently different to warrant a different approach on the issue of prison clothing; and if he will place in the Library a copy of that research.

The study referred to focused on the extent to which prisoners’ clothing affects their self-esteem. It involved a very small sample of prisoners in one male and one female establishment and there were a number of methodological limitations. Given these, the study has not been through the quality assurance processes that would be required before the National Offender Management Service would disseminate or publish it as a research report. These processes include the need for independent peer review to indicate that publication is appropriate.