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Guide Dogs: Access To Prisons And Courts

Volume 445: debated on Wednesday 23 November 1983

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of Ilton asked Her Majesty's Government:Why guide dogs for the blind are not permitted to accompany their owners in HM prisons and courts of law.

No instruction exists centrally prohibiting guide dogs for the blind from having access to either Prison Department establishments or courts. Any request from a blind visitor to bring a guide dog into a prison would be considered sympathetically. Should a blind person with a guide dog have difficulty gaining admittance to a court, the matter should be raised initially with the clerk to the court. However, if the noble Baroness has a particular case in mind I should be happy to look into it if she will supply me with details.