One might be surprised to see norms dating from 2009 referred to as being “new”. Moreover, in the course of the year 2013, the inspectors did not see any change with regard to prisoners’ pay. The latter continues to be very low and the Act voted in 2009 is still not applied in this regard. 4.3 Assistance for Prisoners in a situation of social Precarity The circular issued by the minister of Justice at 17th May 2013 concerning the fight against poverty in prison responds to several cases referred and recommendations made by the Contrôleur Général in this regard. It enables the points ascertained by the inspectors in all of their inspections to be underlined: lack of resources is a hindrance to life in detention and constitutes an obstacle to the maintenance of family ties and to rehabilitation and, finally, is contrary to the protection of dignity. According to this circular, a quarter of the prison population is affected by precarity. Three points in the circular more specifically reflect the Contrôleur Général’s recommendations. These are concerned with the distribution of kits for personal hygiene and upkeep of the cell which should be systematically issued to prisoners on their arrival, the allowance of ten euros which is provided for in order to enable persons without resources to have access to family life units and, finally, administrative assistance with a view to release. The latter consists of enabling the examination of applications upstream from release by means of initiatives on the part of bodies such as CCAS public centres for social action (Centre communal d’action sociale), the CPAM (state health insurance office), the CAF (social security office) and the French national employment agency. Indeed, the inspectors too frequently ascertain in their inspections that access to welfare rights on release is not a subject of concern within penal institutions. This is nonetheless an essential factor for rehabilitation after release. A shortcoming of the circular is its failure to state which departments within institutions should take care of the preparation of prisoners’ social welfare applications, the signature of agreements with prefectures and local authorities and the list of useful addresses which should be issued to prisoners on their release. The prison service for rehabilitation and probation is not designated as being in charge of these actions likely to guarantee access to rights under ordinary law on release from prison. 4.4 The Interministerial Circular of 11th July 2013 concerning Prisoners’ Access to Welfare Rights In its Annual Report for 2011, the Contrôle Général gave a survey of access to welfare rights for persons deprived of liberty, in particular with regard to recognition of disablement and invalidity76. On the basis of considerations linked to the ageing of the prison population and to the latter’s poor state of health, it pointed out that payment of the Allowance for Disabled Adults (AAH) was an essential, and often the only source of income for many prisoners. It noted that the respective roles of beneficiaries (of prisoners in this instance), social workers and health unit doctors did not appear to be defined with sufficient clarity. It therefore recommended, on the one hand, the drafting of an interministerial circular (Social Affairs and Justice) in order to facilitate the granting and renewal of entitlements to AAH; and, on the other hand, that the reduction of the amount of AAH paid to prisoners77 should be made more than sixty days after 76 77 Rapport pour 2011, Paris, published by Dalloz, p. 135 et seq. Article R. 821-8 of the Social Security Code (Code de la sécurité sociale). 72