In recognition of the importance of maintaining family ties, since 24 March the Government has rolled out 1297 secure mobile phones across the prison estate in England and Wales. This is in addition to existing wing phones and in-cell telephones. As of the 21 July 2020, 153,918 minutes of calls have taken place from secure mobile PIN phones since 2nd April when this service was deployed.<\/p>
We do not routinely record the number of calls that take place over long periods of time, however our most recent data shows that on 21 July, 2803 calls took place across all mobile phones. This equates to 14,783 minutes across the estate. For comparison, 222,889 minutes of calls took place across the non-mobile based PIN network. There has been a 52% increase in calls across pin phone calls from the average call number in February, we do not currently have the equivalent data for just mobile phones.<\/p>
We do not record figures for minutes that prisoners have spent on calls by prison across the time period mentioned.. We have access to daily call figures across the entire secure mobile network and also individual prison figures on a given day. We are working with our supplier to identify whether we can report on cumulative figures for individual prisons.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4538", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Keen of Elie"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2020-08-04", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2020-08-04T14:50:06.417Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2020-07-21", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Prisons: Coronavirus"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their announcement on 24 March that 900 secure phone handsets were to be provided to prisons to support family contact during the COVID-19 pandemic, how many minutes prisoners have spent on calls to date (1) in total, and (2) in each prison in which such phones have been allocated.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/452", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Bradley"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Bradley"} ], "uin" : "HL7081"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1226217", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1226217/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The internal review of the HMPPS Covid-19 Special Payment Scheme is ongoing. When concluded, any changes will be implemented and communicated to staff in the usual way.<\/p>
HM Treasury have approved the scheme and we anticipate a budget allocation to be agreed in Autumn 2020 which will cover payments made to date.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4538", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Keen of Elie"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2020-07-29", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "HL7049"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2020-07-29T08:39:55.84Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2020-07-20", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Prison and Probation Service: Coronavirus"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the outcome of their review of the HM Prisons and Probation Service COVID-19 Special Payment Scheme.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/452", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Bradley"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Bradley"} ], "uin" : "HL7048"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1226218", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1226218/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The internal review of the HMPPS Covid-19 Special Payment Scheme is ongoing. When concluded, any changes will be implemented and communicated to staff in the usual way.<\/p>
HM Treasury have approved the scheme and we anticipate a budget allocation to be agreed in Autumn 2020 which will cover payments made to date.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4538", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Keen of Elie"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2020-07-29", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "HL7048"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2020-07-29T08:39:55.89Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2020-07-20", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Prison and Probation Service: Coronavirus"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of the HM Prisons and Probation Service COVID-19 Special Payment Scheme budget has been spent to date by (1) prisons, and (2) probation services.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/452", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Bradley"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Bradley"} ], "uin" : "HL7049"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1226219", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1226219/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Payment Plus is funded through Her Majesty\u2019s Prisons and Probation Service\u2019s staff pay budget from savings arising from any staff vacancies, which are then re-invested by each prison to fund the Payment Plus (PP) needed to cover operational staff vacancies.<\/p>
Prison governors have always had the authority to use PP to allow for additional staff time to cover vacancies. They are given an annual budget for staff costs based on agreed staffing levels and are expected to manage PP within this.<\/p>
In the first quarter of this financial year, the total spend on PP was £20.4m, which includes additional overtime cover in response to the impact of COVID-19.<\/p>
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a high risk of increased staff absence and to mitigate this, staff were asked to volunteer for additional PP hours in advance of need. Since the start of the scheme in mid-March, to end June, about 60% of the total extra PP hours volunteers had committed to work were used and the remainder are being used as prisons move into recovery.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4538", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Keen of Elie"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2020-08-04", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "HL7051"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2020-08-04T10:33:12.27Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2020-07-20", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Prison and Probation Service: Finance"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the total budget allocated to the HM Prisons and Probation Service Payment Plus scheme for the current financial year.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/452", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Bradley"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Bradley"} ], "uin" : "HL7050"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1226220", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1226220/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Payment Plus is funded through Her Majesty\u2019s Prisons and Probation Service\u2019s staff pay budget from savings arising from any staff vacancies, which are then re-invested by each prison to fund the Payment Plus (PP) needed to cover operational staff vacancies.<\/p>
Prison governors have always had the authority to use PP to allow for additional staff time to cover vacancies. They are given an annual budget for staff costs based on agreed staffing levels and are expected to manage PP within this.<\/p>
In the first quarter of this financial year, the total spend on PP was £20.4m, which includes additional overtime cover in response to the impact of COVID-19.<\/p>
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a high risk of increased staff absence and to mitigate this, staff were asked to volunteer for additional PP hours in advance of need. Since the start of the scheme in mid-March, to end June, about 60% of the total extra PP hours volunteers had committed to work were used and the remainder are being used as prisons move into recovery.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4538", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Keen of Elie"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2020-08-04", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "HL7050"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2020-08-04T10:33:12.323Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2020-07-20", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Prison and Probation Service: Finance"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of the budget allocated to the HM Prisons and Probation Service Payment Plus scheme has been spent so far in the current financial year.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/452", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Bradley"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Bradley"} ], "uin" : "HL7051"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1225876", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1225876/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
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>
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>
- whether in-cell telephones were already in place and so secure mobiles were not needed<\/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>
The following numbers of phones were initially deployed to each region across 65 sites:<\/p>
<\/p>
Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire & Lancashire, Cumbria<\/p><\/td> | 120<\/p><\/td><\/tr> | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Yorkshire<\/p><\/td> | 25<\/p><\/td><\/tr> | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tees & Wear<\/p><\/td> | 25<\/p><\/td><\/tr> | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
North Midlands<\/p><\/td> | 35<\/p><\/td><\/tr> | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
East Midlands<\/p><\/td> | 65<\/p><\/td><\/tr> | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
West Midlands<\/p><\/td> | 70<\/p><\/td><\/tr> | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Avon & South Dorset<\/p><\/td> | 40<\/p><\/td><\/tr> | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
South Central<\/p><\/td> | 40<\/p><\/td><\/tr> | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Devon & North Dorset<\/p><\/td> | 30<\/p><\/td><\/tr> | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk & Hertfordshire, Essex and Suffolk<\/p><\/td> | 100<\/p><\/td><\/tr> | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
London<\/p><\/td> | 35<\/p><\/td><\/tr> | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kent, Surrey & Sussex<\/p><\/td> | 55<\/p><\/td><\/tr> | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Long Term High Security<\/p><\/td> | 170<\/p><\/td><\/tr> | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
HMPPS Wales<\/p><\/td> | 90<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table> <\/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>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4538", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Keen of Elie"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2020-07-28", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "HL6876"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2020-07-28T13:46:46.113Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2020-07-16", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Prisons: Coronavirus"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their announcement on 24 March that 900 secure phone handsets were to be provided to prisons to support family contact during the COVID-19 pandemic, how many calls have been placed to date (1) in total, and (2) in each prison that such phones have been allocated to.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/452", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Bradley"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Bradley"} ], "uin" : "HL6927"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1225877", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1225877/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " A budget has not been yet allocated to HM Prisons and Probation Service for the COVID-19 Special Payment Scheme.<\/p> HMT have approved the scheme and the current costs for the COVID-19 Special Payment Scheme as needed to ensure a safe regime. We anticipate budget cover to be finalised in Autumn 2020, and will cover the full financial year.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4538", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Keen of Elie"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2020-07-28", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "HL6877"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2020-07-28T15:19:31.583Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2020-07-16", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "HM Prison and Probation Service: Coronavirus"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of the total budget allocated to HM Prisons and Probation Service as part of the COVID-19 Special Payment Scheme has so far been allocated (1) to prisons, and (2) to probation.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/452", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Bradley"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Bradley"} ], "uin" : "HL6928"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1225374", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1225374/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " 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> 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> - whether in-cell telephones were already in place and so secure mobiles were not needed<\/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> The following numbers of phones were initially deployed to each region across 65 sites:<\/p> <\/p>
|