IPCO Annual Report 2017
13.6
By way of example, prison officers and staff will read a prisoner’s mail or intercept his
or her telephone calls to gather intelligence and to prevent the prisoner from (i) bringing
illicit drugs and other items into the prison, (ii) interfering with witnesses, (iii) grooming or
harassing victims, or (iv) committing other criminal offences. The prison may disclose the
content of the interception to law enforcement officers.
13.7
In England and Wales, the Prison Service Instructions (PSIs), the National Security Framework
and the Public Protection Manual provide detailed guidance on how interception should be
carried out.
Surveillance and CHIS
13.8
The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) provides the legislative basis for Her
Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS England & Wales), and the Prison Service for
Northern Ireland, to carry out directed surveillance and to use CHIS to prevent and detect
crime and to protect public safety. The Scottish Prison Service is similarly authorised under
the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000 (RIPSA)
13.9
The prison authorities use surveillance and CHIS powers to combat the supply and internal
distribution of illicit goods such as controlled drugs and mobile phones, including in cases
where staff corruption is suspected. Security is a critical issue, for instance for those prisoners
who pose an escape risk or if intelligence indicates there may be some other material risk. A
percentage of telephone calls and letters are randomly monitored.
Statistics
13.10
The decision to authorise the interception of a prisoner’s communications is made by
a Governor within an individual prison. The authority and its associated documents are
stored in the establishment with any intelligence recorded in the prisoner’s personal files.
IPCO inspections capture the number of live authorities at individual prisons, on the day of
inspection, but statistics for interception of prisoners’ communications are not collected
centrally and reported annually. The numbers of surveillance and CHIS authorisations by the
prison service are reported within the non‑LEA total figures provided in the earlier chapters.61
The Authorisation process
Interception
13.11
The prison authorities have a responsibility to inform inmates that their communications
may be intercepted. They do so by issuing a ‘communications compact’, a document
which explains the interception process, the statutory purposes for which a Governor
can authorise interception and the availability of confidential calls.
13.12
In England and Wales, Prison Rule 35A gives a prison Governor the authority to intercept
any communications by a prisoner or a class of prisoners, if this step is necessary and
proportionate. Prison Rule 81 allows Governors to delegate their powers to other officers.
In practice, the responsibility to consider and authorise requests to intercept prisoners’
communications is delegated to the Head of Offender Management or the Head of
Prison Security.
61 Figures 1 and 4
85