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1691381

	registered interest
	date	23/02/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Mobile Phones
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many illicit mobile phones were found in prisons in (a) England and (b) Wales in each year since 2019.
	tabling member constituency	Brentford and Isleworth
	tabling member printed	Ruth Cadbury
	uin	15445
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/02/2024 answer text <p>Mobile phones are a key enabler for prisoners to engage in criminality which impacts into both prisons and the community including drug supply, violence and harassment of victims and witnesses.</p><p> </p><p>MoJ’s £100 million Security Investment Programme, aimed at reducing crime in prisons, including reducing the smuggling of illicit items such as mobile phones, was completed in March 2022. This investment delivered 75 additional X-ray body scanners resulting in full coverage across the closed adult male estate. As of October 2023, we have recorded 46,925 positive indications, helping to tackle the smuggling of mobile phones and other contraband into prisons.</p><p> </p><p>The number of mobile phones found in prisons in England and Wales is published in the HMPPS Annual Digest through the Finds in Prison Tables: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64c143b41e10bf000e17cf9e/8.__Finds.ods" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64c143b41e10bf000e17cf9e/8.__Finds.ods</a>. Table 8.3 provides the number of mobile phones found per prison in England and Wales.</p><p> </p><p>Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that the data has been drawn from large scale administrative systems, and as such is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 29/02/2024 16:51:09 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4389 label Biography information for Ruth Cadbury

1667952

	registered interest
	date	07/11/2023
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Mobile Phones
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce mobile phone use in prisons.
	tabling member constituency	Nottingham North
	tabling member printed	Alex Norris
	uin	398
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/11/2023 answer text <p>It is a crime to possess or operate a mobile phone in prisons, and prisoners caught with devices can face extra time behind bars.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 15/11/2023 13:59:29 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
	tabling member	4641 label Biography information for Alex Norris

1599606

	registered interest
	date	27/02/2023
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Mobile Phones
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the rise of prisoners using mobile phones to record and upload videos to social media platforms.
	tabling member constituency	Somerton and Frome
	tabling member printed	David Warburton
	uin	153903
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/03/2023 answer text <p>Under national policy prisoners can only access the internet in a supervised environment, and only for rehabilitative purposes. Prisoners cannot access or interact with social media whilst in custody.</p><p>We have a zero-tolerance approach to illicit mobile phones in prison which some prisoners may use to access social media. Our £100m Security Investment Programme (SIP), aimed at reducing crime in prisons including reducing the conveyance of illicit items such as drugs and mobile phones, was completed in March 2022. This investment delivered 75 additional X-ray body scanners resulting in full coverage across the adult closed male estate. As of October 2022, we had recorded 28,626 positive scans, preventing drugs and mobile phones from entering prisons. The SIP also funded the installation of a variety of detection and other mobile phone technologies across the estate, targeting those prisons presenting the highest risk of harm through illicit mobile phone use.</p><p>HMPPS’ Digital Media Investigations Unit (DMIU) have the capacity to forensically examine illicit mobile devices, and will investigate reported misuses of social media, working alongside social media sites to identify and stop unlawful activity. Where serious crimes are identified, including offences against children, the matter would be referred to police for consideration. The DMIU has strong working relationships with social media companies, including TikTok, and Meta, and work with them to improve how illegal prison-related content is identified and removed to avoid it impacting on victims, witnesses and members of the public of all ages.</p><p>Where possession of an illicit device is confirmed, or a direct link is found between a prisoner and social media content, cases may be referred to the police for further investigation and prisons can take further punitive action.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds grouped question UIN 153904 question first answered 06/03/2023 12:40:59 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
	tabling member	4526 label Biography information for David Warburton

1254372

	registered interest
	date	23/11/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Mobile Phones
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 12 October 2020 to Question 100350, Prisons: Mobile Phones, how many and what proportion of prisoners in the (a) adult public, (b) adult private and (c) youth estate have access to in-cell technology; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Easington
	tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
	uin	119222
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/11/2020 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 November 2020 to Question 114121 to the hon. Member for West Ham (Ms Brown).</p><p> </p><p>In addition, all of the adult private estate in England and Wales has in-cell telephony installed.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 26/11/2020 17:21:30 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1241215

	registered interest
	date	07/10/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Mobile Phones
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to increase the use of in-cell technology in prisons for (a) education, (b) rehabilitation, (c) communication and (d) other purposes.
	tabling member constituency	Easington
	tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
	uin	100350
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2020 answer text <p>The department’s technology priority since the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak has been focused on enabling communication between prisoners and their families and friends.</p><p>Since the beginning of March, this has resulted in the deployment of over 1000 secure mobile phones to complement existing in-cell telephones and wing phones.</p><p>We have deployed nearly 250 tablets for compassionate calls across all public prisons in England and Wales and most significantly we have deployed video calls across 105 sites to enable an interim alternative whilst face-to-face meetings were suspended. There are still 7 sites which are yet to have fully operational video visits, these are being worked on by our teams as a priority. Over 27,000 video calls have been made so far.</p><p>As announced in June, £20m was secured to increase technology infrastructure across the estate. This work is enabling additional video-conferencing facilities and the extension of in-cell technology across sites with existing network infrastructure.</p><p>This complements existing work to install technology across the entire youth estate, which will support education and rehabilitation by providing secure access to appropriate content on laptops via our Content Hub. The Content Hub provides access to education materials such as maths exercises, books supporting people learning to read, and specific vocational learning materials (including customer service skills, food safety awareness, and Khan Academy materials to support people learning to be electricians).</p><p>During the COVID-19 crisis, additional education services have been added to the Content Hub, including mindfulness tools, in-cell exercises, and audio books to support the residents during longer periods in cells. National Prison Radio shows have also been used to keep residents calm and to reduce frustration.</p><p>The use of secure technology to enable the safe delivery of education in-cell is a key part of our strategy to improve rehabilitation, get more prisoners ready for jobs on release and reduce reoffending. We continue to consider the recommendations of the Farmer Review when prioritising future deployment of technology.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 100351 question first answered 12/10/2020 16:25:32 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1241216

	registered interest
	date	07/10/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Mobile Phones
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he has taken to increase the use of in-cell technology in prisons for education since the start of the covid-19 outbreak.
	tabling member constituency	Easington
	tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
	uin	100351
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2020 answer text <p>The department’s technology priority since the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak has been focused on enabling communication between prisoners and their families and friends.</p><p>Since the beginning of March, this has resulted in the deployment of over 1000 secure mobile phones to complement existing in-cell telephones and wing phones.</p><p>We have deployed nearly 250 tablets for compassionate calls across all public prisons in England and Wales and most significantly we have deployed video calls across 105 sites to enable an interim alternative whilst face-to-face meetings were suspended. There are still 7 sites which are yet to have fully operational video visits, these are being worked on by our teams as a priority. Over 27,000 video calls have been made so far.</p><p>As announced in June, £20m was secured to increase technology infrastructure across the estate. This work is enabling additional video-conferencing facilities and the extension of in-cell technology across sites with existing network infrastructure.</p><p>This complements existing work to install technology across the entire youth estate, which will support education and rehabilitation by providing secure access to appropriate content on laptops via our Content Hub. The Content Hub provides access to education materials such as maths exercises, books supporting people learning to read, and specific vocational learning materials (including customer service skills, food safety awareness, and Khan Academy materials to support people learning to be electricians).</p><p>During the COVID-19 crisis, additional education services have been added to the Content Hub, including mindfulness tools, in-cell exercises, and audio books to support the residents during longer periods in cells. National Prison Radio shows have also been used to keep residents calm and to reduce frustration.</p><p>The use of secure technology to enable the safe delivery of education in-cell is a key part of our strategy to improve rehabilitation, get more prisoners ready for jobs on release and reduce reoffending. We continue to consider the recommendations of the Farmer Review when prioritising future deployment of technology.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 100350 question first answered 12/10/2020 16:25:32 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1225839

	registered interest
	date	16/07/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Mobile Phones
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many illicit (a) mobile phones, and (b) SIM cards have been discovered and reported at each prison establishment in each of the last 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	North Tyneside
	tabling member printed	Mary Glindon
	uin	75311
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2020 answer text <p>The number of mobile phone and SIM card finds in prison each month is published annually in the HMPPS Annual Digest. We cannot give data out that is due for publication. Figures for 2018/19 were published in July 2019. Figures for 2019/20 are not yet published and will be published in the Annual Digest on 30<sup>th</sup> July. This will include data for January to March 2020. Data for the remainder of 2020 will follow in the 2020/21 Annual Digest to be published next year.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 22/07/2020 14:19:47 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4126 label Biography information for Mary Glindon

1225374

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Mobile Phones
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the announcement on 24 March that 900 secure phone handsets have been provided to prisons to support family contact during the COVID-19 pandemic, how many phones have been (1) allocated to each prison, and (2) used by prisoners to place calls.
	tabling member printed	Lord Bradley
	uin	HL6876
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/07/2020 answer text <p>As of the 14th July 132,266 connections through secure mobile PIN phones have been made. This number includes phone calls to approved telephone numbers, account check balances, failed calls and calls where they were connected to an engaged number and therefore disconnected. This number also excludes those calls made through existing in-cell telephones and secure PIN phones on prison landings.</p><p> </p><p>Secure mobile phones were allocated on a region by region basis with operational decisions made as to where deployment of these phones was most effective. These decisions were made considering:</p><p>- whether in-cell telephones were already in place and so secure mobiles were not needed</p><p>- if the potential site had suitable mobile phone signal. Some sites, due to location and build of prison did not enable effective coverage to support mobile calls.</p><p> </p><p>The following numbers of phones were initially deployed to each region across 65 sites:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire &amp; Lancashire, Cumbria</p></td><td><p>120</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Yorkshire</p></td><td><p>25</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Tees &amp; Wear</p></td><td><p>25</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North Midlands</p></td><td><p>35</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>East Midlands</p></td><td><p>65</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>West Midlands</p></td><td><p>70</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Avon &amp; South Dorset</p></td><td><p>40</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South Central</p></td><td><p>40</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Devon &amp; North Dorset</p></td><td><p>30</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk &amp; Hertfordshire, Essex and Suffolk</p></td><td><p>100</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>London</p></td><td><p>35</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Kent, Surrey &amp; Sussex</p></td><td><p>55</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Long Term High Security</p></td><td><p>170</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>HMPPS Wales</p></td><td><p>90</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Although all phone calls are monitored, we do not create reports on the number of calls on a person-by-person basis. Similarly, we do not routinely record how many times an individual makes a phone call. We have since increased the number of secure mobiles to nearly 1300.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie grouped question UIN HL6927 question first answered 28/07/2020 13:46:46 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
	tabling member	452 label Biography information for Lord Bradley

1177344

	registered interest
	date	10/02/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Mobile Phones
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) mobile phones and (b) SIM cards were discovered in each prison in (i) England and (ii) Wales in 2019.
	tabling member constituency	Oxford West and Abingdon
	tabling member printed	Layla Moran
	uin	14742
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/02/2020 answer text <p>The HMPPS Annual Digest 2018 to 2019 provides information on the number of incidents where mobile phones and SIM cards were found in each prison in the 12 months to March 2019: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmpps-annual-digest-2018-to-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmpps-annual-digest-2018-to-2019</a>. The figures for the period to March 2020 will be published on 30 July 2020.</p><p>Overall, in the 12 months to March 2019, there were 11,448 incidents where mobile phones were found in prisons and 5,377 incidents where SIM cards were found. This is an increase of 8% and 14% respectively, compared with the previous 12-month period.</p><p>We are investing £100m in prison security to stop contraband such as mobile phones from entering prisons. This includes X-ray baggage scanners and metal detection equipment to enhance searching of visitors and staff and the recently announced X-ray body scanners to detect prisoners concealing contraband inside their body.</p><p>As part of the Security Investment Programme we are also investing in cutting-edge detection and blocking technology to find and stop illicit phones working inside our establishments.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 13/02/2020 13:41:22 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4656 label Biography information for Layla Moran

1133597

	registered interest
	date	20/06/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Mobile Phones
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	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.
	tabling member constituency	Dwyfor Meirionnydd
	tabling member printed	Liz Saville Roberts
	uin	267270
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2019 answer text <p>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.</p><p> </p><p>Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has implemented a threefold approach to tackling the threat posed by mobile phones in prisons:</p><p> </p><ul><li>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.</li><li>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.</li><li>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.</li></ul> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 27/06/2019 17:07:01 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	4521 label Biography information for Liz Saville Roberts