Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many mobile telephones and sim cards were found in (a) HMP Belmarsh, (b) HMP Feltham, (c) HMP Isis, (d) HMP Pentonville, (e) HMP Thameside, (f) HMP Wandsworth and (g) HMP Wormwood Scrubs in each year between 2010 and 2014.

The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) takes the issues of mobile phones in prison very seriously and is committed to addressing the risks that they present. This is being achieved through a multi-layered approach to: minimise the number of mobile phones entering prisons, find phones that do get in and disrupt mobile phones that cannot be found.

It is already an offence to convey into or possess mobile phones or SIM cards within prison. New powers introduced in the Serious Crime Act will allow for unauthorised mobile phones to be de-activated if they are shown to be operating within a prison. NOMS is also investing in a range of new technology to detect phones within prison and block phone signals. Prisons are increasingly able to detect and seize illicit phones.

The number of finds in each prison establishment for the calendar years 2010 through to 2014 is shown in the table below. Please note that one find may constitute a mobile phone handset containing one SIM card or media card, a handset only, or a SIM card only.

All figures in this answer have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. The data are not subject to audit.

[1] HMP Isis became operational in mid-2010

[2] HMP Thameside became operational in late 2012