§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the use of telephone booking systems for arranging visits to inmates in prisons in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement. [118491]
§ Mr. BoatengThe Prison Service recognises that telephone booking systems can be an effective tool in managing and allocating the huge number of booked visits which prison establishments have to organise on a daily basis. An increasing number of prisons are developing Information Technology systems for this purpose. The Prison Service has completed a study into the use of telephone booking systems for social and official visits to prisoners, the findings of which have informed the production of a statement of business requirements for the introduction of a computerised visits booking system in all prisons.
The Prison Service is working, in partnership with the private sector, to develop the delivery of improved services through the effective use of Information Technology. One of the aims of this project is the provision of efficient, responsive, customer focused public services, and booked visits are included within the scope of the services to be provided. The Prison Service is in the process of developing the timetable for this work.