Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many mobile phones have been seized in prison establishments in (a) 2015-6, (b) 2016-7 and (c) 2017-18.

The number of mobiles phones found in prison is published here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-hm-prison-and-probation-service-digest-2017-to-2018

Please refer to table 9.6, this covers data from 2016/2017. The number of mobile phones found in an incident was not specifically recorded prior to October 2015 when a new incident type was introduced.

We are investing £70 million determined to tackle head-on the issues that undermine the safety and security of our prisons. We are taking decisive measures to find and block mobiles, including investing into detection equipment, including hand-held detectors and portable detection devices. These figures highlight the success of these measures, and the determination of prison staff to disrupt this behaviour. Any offender found using a mobile phone could face an extra two years behind bars.