It's good to talk....
Jan. 16th, 2008 11:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
suzyscottdotcomA few interesting snippets regarding the phone system in prisons. The old system of prisoners having BT Phonecards has been long done-away with, and a ten-year deal brokered by BT to retain prices at 2001 rates. Only problem is, cost of calls outside in the real world have dropped dramatically since then, and the price in prisons will remain as it is. (The below are copyrighted articles, scanned for the purpose of 'fair review'.).
Secondly, a snippet in a letter written by an officer, with a response from the HMPS Director General. Seems as if the last paragraph says it all! The price rise by BT mentioned in this article refers to payphones - you now get 20 minutes for your 40p, but this is a minimum charge, and the cost has risen in line with keeping them clean and diminishing use. The prison population, on the other hand, has never been higher, and while subsidy from the taxpayer is not obviously a viable option, I don't really feel it would be needed. The cost of a one-hour evening call around the UK in the evenings, from a landline to another landline, used to be 1.7p a minute, but it is now around 6p for up to one hour.
Secondly, a snippet in a letter written by an officer, with a response from the HMPS Director General. Seems as if the last paragraph says it all! The price rise by BT mentioned in this article refers to payphones - you now get 20 minutes for your 40p, but this is a minimum charge, and the cost has risen in line with keeping them clean and diminishing use. The prison population, on the other hand, has never been higher, and while subsidy from the taxpayer is not obviously a viable option, I don't really feel it would be needed. The cost of a one-hour evening call around the UK in the evenings, from a landline to another landline, used to be 1.7p a minute, but it is now around 6p for up to one hour.
