COST OF TELEPHONE CALLS FOR PRISONERS

Early day motion 311, tabled 16 December 2008 by Linda Riordan (Labour). Signed by 63 members.

That this House welcomes the super-complaint on the high cost of telephone calls for prisoners lodged with Ofcom by the national consumer councils of England, Scotland and Wales and supported by the Prison Reform Trust; is concerned that the cost of a 30 minute call from a prison to a landline is over seven times more expensive than the equivalent call from a public payphone; is further concerned at the persistently high cost of telephone calls for prisoners, at a time when costs for other basic telephone services have fallen by 60 per cent.; notes that prisoners are six times less likely to reoffend if they have a supportive family network to return to when they leave prison and that almost half of people in prison lose contact with their families during their sentence; and calls on the Government to ensure current and future contracts for providing telephone services for prisoners require providers to charge fair prices.

Signatures by party: Labour 36, Liberal Democrat 19, Conservative 2, Independent 2, Plaid Cymru 2, Independent Labour 1, Social Democratic and Labour Party 1.