Prisoners: Telephones and Video Conferencing

(asked on 1st June 2020) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of (a) male and (b) female prisoners had access to (i) telephony and (ii) video calling facilities to maintain contact with family members during the week of the 20 May 2020.


Answered by
Lucy Frazer Portrait
Lucy Frazer
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
This question was answered on 9th June 2020

In recognition of the importance of continued contact with family, we have moved quickly to keep prisoners in touch with their family members. This includes the introduction of 900 locked mobile phones to establishments that do not yet have in-cell telephony. The locked mobile phones allow prisoners to be connected to the existing PIN phone system and call their approved telephone numbers allowing them to maintain contact with family and friends.

By the week of 20 May all prisoners, male and female, had access to some form of telephony either in-cell, landing PIN phone or a locked mobile.

On 15 May, we announced the expansion of video calling to 10 prisons, following a successful pilot at HMP Berwyn, with a wider rollout in the coming weeks. The week commencing 18 May represented the first operating week of this expansion during which the first 10 prisons received their equipment. As this week includes training and start up activity, it is not possible to provide a more detailed breakdown.

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