Bishop of Gloucester asks about contact systems in young offenders institutions

The Bishop of Gloucester received the following written answer on 30th April 2025:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the relative impact of providing (1) a PIN telephone system, and (2) in-cell telephones, on the number of calls prisoners and young offenders make to (a) family members, (b) support workers, and (c) others in the community.

Lord Timpson (Lab, MoJ): In-cell telephony has now superseded the former PIN system in all prisons in the closed estate. The introduction of in-cell telephony across the prison estate has significantly improved the ability of prisoners and young people to access support, and to establish and maintain relationships.

We know phone calls help prisoners maintain family ties and relationships which are vital to their rehabilitation and, therefore, cutting crime.

The table below provides an annual breakdown of call volumes and time spent on calls, since 2013, in prisons managed by HM Prison & Probation Service. The figure for 2024 (*) covers the six months up to 30 June.

YearCallsMinutes
2024*37,876,209263,998,312
202376,813,827528,401,873
202278,485,958563,391,699
202181,386,508576,909,923
202069,111,893465,858,221
201936,183,024187,005,935
201831,454,100155,589,732
201726,503,625123,021,020
201625,004,192109,798,759
201526,500,702112,093,506
201428,164,497117,452,587
201329,776,703126,517,473

It would not be possible to provide the requested disaggregation of calls by type of recipient without incurring disproportionate cost.

Hansard