Current status: Answered by Keith Brown on 8 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what action has been taken by the Scottish Prison Service in light of reports of mobile phones that were given to prisoners being hacked and used for criminal activity.
I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:
A solution was identified with the provider in relation to illicit SIM cards being used in prison issued mobile phones and it is currently being implemented across the prison estate. This solution enables the SPS to blacklist handsets on various network providers rendering the handsets unusable with a non-prison issued SIM. The security measures in place will continue to be monitored by the SPS.