£3million to give every jail inmate a free mobile phone

aLmoST £3million has been spent on giving mobile phones to every inmate in Scotland’s prisons.

The ‘ staggering’ price tag is the result of 7,500 handsets being provided to prisoners because of visiting restrictions during the pandemic.

The first phase of the plan will cost taxpayers around £2.7million but the potential total has not been disclosed.

Last week, the jails watchdog said prisoners should have computers in their cells to help them learn and stay in touch with friends and family.

Throughout the pandemic prisoners were given mobiles, while hundreds were released as jails were hit by Covid-19.

Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr has lodged a parliamentary question seeking answers on the issue from Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf.

In a letter to the Scottish parliament’s justice committee, Scottish Prison Service (SPS) acting chief executive Teresa medhurst wrote: ‘SPS agreed contract terms with BT to provide the managed mobile telephony service. This included the set-up of the BT one Phone system and the provision of 7,500 user subscriptions, providing 310 minutes of calls per user per month.

‘The initial contract period is six months, with an option to

‘Questions to be asked’

extend the contract for up to a further 18 months.

‘ The approximate cost of Phase 1 of the phone project is £2.7million, which is inclusive of all necessary i nfrastructure work, set-up costs, running costs and handsets.’

Previous reports stated the cost of handsets for prisoners was £164,000.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas ross said yesterday: ‘This is absolutely staggering – £2.7million on mobile phones for prisoners in Scotland.

‘There are serious questions to be asked of the SNP around the amount of taxpayers’ money thrown at this project.’

mr Kerr added: ‘People will understand that prisoners need to communicate with their families during lockdown. But for that to come with a £2.7million price tag raises questions about whether the SNP gave any meaningful consideration to ensuring best value.

‘Furthermore, it is still unclear how much more this might cost. Transparency here is vital.’

He added: ‘I intend to raise these issues with the justice secretary, who must provide a full explanation to the public.

‘People are entitled to know why this cost was unknown until now, why it is so high and what the total might rise to.’ The Scottish Government said: ‘The prison service has worked to maintain vital family contact, with virtual visits now in place across the prison estate and mobile phones available in the majority of our prisons.

‘ Prisoners have also used these mobile phones to access support from Samaritans.

‘ Last week’s i ndependent Hm chief inspector of prisons for Scotland’s annual report welcomed the introduction of these new measures.’

Scottish prisons chief Wendy Sinclair- Gieben said giving inmates computers would help to boost their mental health.

Prison bosses are understood to back the idea, partly because email could cut the volume of post inmates get – a common route for drug-smuggling.

mrs Sinclair- Gieben backed phones for prisoners, adding: ‘The proven benefits of having computers in cells, particularly with regard to mental health and learning, cannot be underestimated and can provide the much needed in-cell activity if time out of cell continues to be restricted by the pandemic.’