Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) mobile phones and (b) SIM cards were discovered in each prison in (i) England and (ii) Wales in 2019.

The HMPPS Annual Digest 2018 to 2019 provides information on the number of incidents where mobile phones and SIM cards were found in each prison in the 12 months to March 2019: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmpps-annual-digest-2018-to-2019. The figures for the period to March 2020 will be published on 30 July 2020.

Overall, in the 12 months to March 2019, there were 11,448 incidents where mobile phones were found in prisons and 5,377 incidents where SIM cards were found. This is an increase of 8% and 14% respectively, compared with the previous 12-month period.

We are investing £100m in prison security to stop contraband such as mobile phones from entering prisons. This includes X-ray baggage scanners and metal detection equipment to enhance searching of visitors and staff and the recently announced X-ray body scanners to detect prisoners concealing contraband inside their body.

As part of the Security Investment Programme we are also investing in cutting-edge detection and blocking technology to find and stop illicit phones working inside our establishments.