Winchester MP Steve Brine raised the issue of Foreign national prisoners at HMP Winchester in the House of Commons this afternoon (Tuesday 15 February).
Foreign inmates constitute about 15% of the prison population in Winchester and Steve was responding to an issue raised by a constituent who serves on the local Independent Monitoring Board about access to translation services when prisoners are served with important documents.
The MP says he has been assured by Ministers that every effort is made to ensure interpretation services are made available to assist foreign national prisoners when they are issued deportation documents by the UK Border Agency but has uncovered evidence this is not the case across the country, including in Winchester.
He said; "The Immigration Minister tells me every prison in the UK has a Legal Services Officer but this does not appear to always be the case across the country or in Winchester. Putting in place effective and accessible translation measures is the compassionate thing to do and would greatly improve the speed and efficiency of moving inmates through the system who have served their sentences and are awaiting deportation.
"I was heartened by the Ministers' positive response to my raising this and will now work with the Department for Justice and prison authorities locally to improve the way we handle foreign nationals in the UK prison system."
Pictured; Steve was interviewed on the subject recently by a student journalist from WINOL.
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Steve was speaking Justice Questions in the House of Commons on 15 February 2011 at 15:00. A full version of events can be found via www.parliament.uk