Prisoners given laptops and phones to order meals from cells

PRISONERS are being allowed to use laptops to order meals from their cells, an inspection report has revealed.

Inmates at HMP Wayland, in Norfolk, can use the devices to select what they want to eat and also to submit orders to the jail shop. They have additionally been given telephones in their cells to stay in touch with relatives.

The prisons watchdog detailed how the jail, a category-c facility holding nearly 1,000 men including more than 100 serving life sentences, had taken part in a “digitalisation project”.

This included the introduction of incell netbooks, which prisoners spoke positively about.

The report, from HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP), said: “These small laptop computers enabled them to take responsibility for day-to-day tasks such as submitting applications, selecting meal choices and ordering from the prison shop, without having access to the internet.

“Prisoners whose netbook was removed for poor behaviour or who chose not to have one could access the same services using kiosks in communal wing areas.”

Since the previous inspection of the jail in 2013, telephones had been installed into all cells, the assessment said. It added that prisoners were “positive about this development”, but restrictions had been placed on the use of the phones during the core working day in order to remove a disincentive to attend work.

HMIP said: “Access to in-cell telephones and secure laptops that eased access to administrative systems was, in our view, the way forward and an example of good practice.”

The inspectorate described the introduction of in-cell phones as a “positive development”, helping prisoners who were far from home to stay in touch with their families during the evenings. There were also plans to introduce a limited amount of video calling from the legal visits area later this year, the report added.

There have been calls for greater use of technology behind bars to boost prison education programmes and the ability of inmates to stay in touch with

‘Small laptop computers enabled them to take responsibility for tasks such as selecting meal choices’

their families. Earlier this year, a government-ordered review proposed that some prisoners should be allowed to use video-calling technology for “virtual visits”.

Opened in 1985, HMP Wayland is in a rural area near Thetford. At the time of the inspection visit in June, it held 951 adult males. The vast majority of the prisoners were serving lengthy terms, including 105 on life sentences.

Inspectors concluded that the jail was well managed and the atmosphere was “generally respectful”, while safety was improving. Searches had yielded high returns of drugs, illicitly brewed alcohol and mobile phone equipment.

Peter Clarke, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, said: “The prison was very well led, while plans for improvement were active and substantive.”