Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce mobile phone use in prisons.

It is a crime to possess or operate a mobile phone in prisons, and prisoners caught with devices can face extra time behind bars.

Our £100 million Security Investment Programme, aimed at reducing crime in prisons, completed in March 2022, and included funding to reduce the smuggling of illicit items such as mobile phones into prisons, and our measures are producing results. This investment delivered 75 additional X-ray body scanners resulting in full coverage across the closed adult male estate. As of October 2022, we had recorded 28,626 positive indications, helping to tackle the supply mobile phones into prisons.

We have invested in a variety of mobile phone detection and blocking equipment across the prison estate to reduce mobile phone use. HMPPS also have a specialist digital team who ensure the data from illicit devices (including mobile phones) that are found in possession of prisoners can be subsequently analysed enhancing our ability to evidence criminality.