Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which prisons withhold books from prisoners when they first arrive; and for what reasons such books are so withheld.

On reception, prisoners may retain in possession authorised property appropriate to their Incentives and Earned Privileges level, subject to the limitations in place on the prison's facility list and overarching controls on the total volume of property held.

Prisoners may hold up to 12 books in their cell at any one time and additional volumes may be stored locally at the prison.

Restrictions are applied through local discretion where a book would be inappropriate due to a prisoner's offence type, or where the book is itself unsuitable, such as where it gives advice on avoiding detection or how to commit offences, or is pornographic or extremist. This is a matter for individual Governors and the information cannot be collected without incurring disproportionate cost.