Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the (a) prevalence and (b) level of risk of illegal mobile phone use in prisons in England and Wales.

The illegal use of mobile phones in prisons is one of the most significant threats facing our prisons. Illicit mobile phones undermine good order and control in prisons, and perpetuates ongoing criminality. They are used by prisoners for a range of criminal purposes, including drug supply, witness intimidation, extreme violence, involvement in organised crime and successful escapes. In the 12 months to March 2018 there were 15,036 mobile phones found in prisons, along with 9,345 SIM cards. This is an increase of 9% and 30% respectively compared with the previous 12-month period.

Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has implemented a threefold approach to tackling the threat posed by mobile phones in prisons:

• To minimise the number of phones entering prisons, we are strengthening our gate and perimeter security. This includes drafting specialist search teams into prisons across the country and extending the use of X-ray body scanners more widely across the prison estate to detect when prisoners are internally concealing contraband.
• To strengthen our efforts to find phones that do enter prisons, we recently announced the installation of new phone detection technology in a number of prisons that will allow prison officers to pinpoint mobile phone signals down to precise cells. Through the Prisons (Interference with Wireless Telegraphy) Act 2018, we have additionally expanded blocking powers to allow us to work with mobile network providers to disrupt the use of illicit phones in prisons.
• We have also made significant improvements to our ability to forensically analyse seized phones and go after the criminal groups that supply them. For example, we have delivered new kits at 30 prisons to allow officers to download data quickly from illicit phones seized from prisoners.