Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many books were received by his Department during December 2014 as part of the books for prisoners campaign; and where those books were distributed.

377 books were donated in December 2014 and we are in the process of arranging for them to be sent to a prison library. Books which have been donated previously were sent to HMP Pentonville and HMP East Sutton Park.

In accordance with national policy, all of the books are searched before being made available to the library service. The books will be available for any prisoner at the relevant establishments to borrow and will be formally donated to the library service.