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<p>Social visits in adult prisons have been suspended during the period of national
lockdown, but will resume once it is safe to do so.</p><p>Decisions will be based
on public health advice, assessments of local outbreaks and ability to safely facilitate
visits, and so dates may vary between different sites. No sites will resume visits
before the end of March when the ‘stay at home’ order is expected to be lifted under
the government roadmap on easing restrictions.</p><p>Visits to children in the youth
custody estate and compassionate visits to adult establishments have continued throughout
national lockdown.</p><p>Secure video calls have now been introduced at all prisons
across England and Wales, though there are no plans to provide video-capable telephones
at this time. Currently 66% of prison cells have in-cell telephony. Additionally,
within open prisons, mobile phones have been permitted as a transitional measure for
family contact. Further considerations for their use are being made in line with regime
recovery and availability of secure video calls across all open prisons.</p>
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