As families come together to celebrate Christmas and
new year, the Justice Secretary unveils plans for a
further £10 million roll-out of in-cell landline
telephones to help prisoners preserve relationships
with their own loved ones and reduce tension on prison
wings.
This will ultimately improve their chances of
rehabilitation and help to reduce reoffending which
currently costs society £15 billion every year. The
importance of family to rehabilitation is underlined by
research, with studies showing that prisoners who
receive family visits are 39% less likely to reoffend.
All calls on in-cell phones are recorded and can only
be made to a small number of pre-approved numbers. In
the event that they are suspected of being used for
criminal activity, calls can be monitored, and
governors have the power to remove the phones of those
who have misused them.
In-cell phones allow prisoners to make calls in private
at a time which fits with their families’ schedules,
and are currently installed in 20 prisons in England
and Wales. The latest roll-out has been funded by the
additional £30 million allocated to prisons in the last
Budget and will allow 50 prisons to have the phones by
March 2020.
As well as helping prisoners connect with their
families, the phones also give them easier access to
support services such as the Samaritans and MIND,
therefore reducing their risk of self-harm – another
major challenge for jails.
The phones help the government’s wider drive to bring
stability to the prison estate by reducing the tension
which can arise from queuing to use communal phones and
providing an alternative to illicit mobiles which fuel
crime and violence.
Justice Secretary said:
At this time of year more than any other we’re
reminded of the importance of family, and there can
be few groups that this applies to more than
prisoners.
In-cell telephones provide a crucial means of
allowing prisoners to build and maintain family
relationships, something we know is fundamental to
their rehabilitation.
Introducing them to more prisons is a recognition of
the contribution I believe in-cell telephones make to
turning prisons into places of decency where
offenders have a real chance to transform their
lives.
The latest roll-out builds on the expansion of in-cell
telephones announced over the summer as part of a £30
million package of measures to boost safety, security
and decency across the prison estate.
A major review by last year found
that close ties between prisoners and key family
members can significantly reduce the risk of
reoffending.
Other measures taken by government to tackle mobile
phones in prisons include new security measures such as
body scanners and improved searching techniques - part
of an additional £70 million investment in safety and
decency in prisons announced this year.
The government is also supporting the Interference with
Wireless Telegraphy Bill, which received Royal Assent
on 20 December 2018. This legislation will enable
prisons to use interference technology to disrupt
mobile telephone signals and prevent illegal use of
mobiles by prisoners.
Notes to editors
- Ministry of Justice (MOJ) research shows that if a
prisoner receives visits by a partner or family member
(one measure of family ties) the odds of reoffending
are 39% lower than for prisoners who had not received
such visits.
