Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) in the past three years, what is the average processing time for (i) hardcopy correspondences from lawyers and (ii) e-Letters, to be delivered to prison inmates respectively; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider introducing a separate e-Letters system with a shorter processing time that lawyers can use to correspond with prison inmates.
Mr K Shanmugam: On average, the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) takes five working days to process hardcopy correspondences from lawyers, well within the service standard of ten working days. SPS facilitates urgent requests on a best effort basis.
The average processing time for incoming e-letters is two days. The system was designed for families and friends to correspond with inmates, but SPS is considering whether enhancements can be made to also offer this as a mode of communication between lawyers and their inmate clients.
Ministry of Home Affairs
6 August 2024
https://sprs.parl.gov.sg/search/#/sprs3topic?reportid=written-answer-17286
Office of the Leader of the Opposition 