Pact has developed systems and resources to improve communication between prisons and prisoners’ family members where there are concerns about a prisoner’s welfare. The project, which has benefitted from HMPPS Innovation Grant funding and has been co-delivered with HMPPS and prisoners’ families, aims to improve the wellbeing and safety of prisoners across England and Wales.
Why is this needed?
In 2019, Pact’s joint report with the Prison Reform Trust and INQUEST, “Keeping People Safe in Prison”, highlighted significant failures in safer custody telephone lines across the prison estate. The report found that families and friends were often unable to share urgent safeguarding information with prison staff responsible for their loved ones’ care, putting prisoners’ safety at risk.
- Over one-third of prisons had no functioning, safer custody lines.
- Fewer than one in three prisons listed safer custody numbers online.
- Fewer than one in five dedicated lines were answered by staff (the majority went straight to an answering machine).
In the report, families emphasised their vital role in safeguarding and informing the care of prisoners. Yet when they could speak to someone at a prison, they often received no response to their concerns or described being “fobbed off” or disregarded by Safer Custody departments.
Encouraging effective prison-family communication
Since 2021, Pact has collaborated with six prison establishments, HMPPS, and prisoners’ families to develop systems and resources that enable families to communicate their concerns to prison safety teams. The project has included:
- Redevelopment of the Prisoners’ Families Helpline website
- The production of seven short films on prison life, co-developed with individuals in custody and focused on families’ most frequently raised concerns.
- The development of an online ‘safer custody portal’ that provides a web page for every prison in England and Wales, offering families consistent guidance about how to share concerns. Families can also contact prison teams directly through an online contact form.
- Creating standardised systems by which prisons log and respond to concerns about prisoners’ welfare.
- Guidance for prisons on family and significant other engagement in ACCT (Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork) processes to inform and support best practice.
- A review of the forthcoming ‘Safety Policy Framework and Families and Significant Other Measurement Tool’, which aims to embed learning from the project across the prison estate.
The Prisoners' Families Helpline Safer Custody portal receives over 7,000 views each month.
What’s next?
Following a successful evaluation, the HMPPS Safer Custody Board approved funding to disseminate the project’s learning and resources across the entire prison estate, establishing the first national consistent gateway communication mechanism for prisoners’ families.
Pact will continue to work with HMPPS to promote effective communication between prison establishments and prisoners’ family members. The Pact team will support prison teams in managing online safer custody submissions and using data collected in communication logs to further enhance prison-family communication. We also aim to continue co-developing information and guidance with people in prison, prisoners’ families, and HMPPS.
For more information about this project, get in touch.
Resources for prisoners’ families & significant others
- Prisoners’ Families Helpline website: www.prisonersfamilies.org
- Safer Custody portal: www.prisonersfamilies.org/urgent-help
- Prison Life videos: https://www.prisonersfamilies.org/prison-life-videos
- ACCT guidance for families & significant others: https://www.prisonersfamilies.org/assessment-care-in-custody-and-teamwork-acct
- Gov.uk prison guides: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/prisons-in-england-and-wales
- Pact online prison guides: https://www.prisonadvice.org.uk/get-help/prison-visitors-guides/