All prison cells now have a phone

A major project to install a landline telephone in every jail cell is due for completion this month – allowing prisoners to keep in touch with their families and friends more easily.

According to the Prison Service, all 92 closed public-sector prisons in England and Wales will be fully fitted with phones by February 24. Justice Minister Lord Bellamy announced the date in January, at which time the work had been finished at 86 prisons with just six more to go.

Previously, prisoners used payphones on landings – but there were regular complaints about calls being overheard and fights breaking out in queues. The in-cell phones work in the same way, with prisoners using a PIN to access their account, paying with pre-purchased credits, and restricted to dialling security-cleared numbers. Only outgoing calls can be made. Calls to the Samaritans are free and can be made 24 hours a day.

The installation of in-cell phones began before the Covid pandemic, and by mid-2020 around half of the estate had in-cell phones. Installation at women’s prisons was completed in 2021. Open prisons are not included, but residents at these spend less time locked in their cells, so have better access to landing payphones. Privately-managed jails are also not included in the Prison Service figures, but these mostly had in-cell phones before their public-sector counterparts.

The Scottish Prison Service announced last year that it would install in-cell phones at the 13 public-sector prisons it runs, at a cost of £8.5 million, to replace mobile phones which were issued to prisoners in Scotland during the Covid pandemic.

In an article published in Inside Time last year, Julie Brett, Deputy Director, Innovation & Business Change at HM Prison and Probation Service, said: “Feedback from people in prison has consistently identified that in-cell PIN phones improve the quantity and quality of contact with their family and friends thanks to the opportunities they provide. These include being able to make calls at a time to suit everyone in a more private setting away from busy landings, and removing the need to queue to use a phone during brief unlock periods.”