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Brits pay £15million for prison inmate TVs as jail dubbed 'time to catch up on shows'
EXCLUSIVE: The Daily Star has learned via the Freedom of Information Act that British taxpayers have made outlays of roughly £15million in the last five years on TVs for lags – But the Ministry of Justice isn't worried
British taxpayers have forked out more than £15million to fund televisions for prisoners in the last five years, the Daily Star can reveal.
Data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act reveals that since the start of 2019, £15,035,793 has been spent on prisoner TVs. The Ministry of Justice has been quick to note that prisoners have to pay for access to TVs and claims that much of the money is recuperated through the scheme, in some cases close to all of it.
In the period 2019 to 2024, a total of 181,800 TVs were bought, meaning the average cost of each TV was just shy of £83.
A Prison Service spokesperson told the Daily Star: “Access to in-cell TVs is paid for out of prisoners’ own money and can be removed if they break the rules.”
The service is only available to prisoners who show good behaviour. The Daily Star understands that access to them can be whipped away at short notice if prisoners are found to step out of line.
Confusingly, this expenditure was spread over 181,800 TVs, despite there only being roughly 87,000 prisoners in the UK.
Meanwhile, the TVs have limitation in both volume and channel, as well as a shortened power cable.
In the tax year 2022/23, £4,579,545 worth of tellies were bought by British prisons, the most in the period, which saw more than 48,000 units secured.
The second most prolific year was the year before, which saw £2,936,563 spent and more than 33,000 TVs bought.
The news has been met with criticism by the British TaxPayers' Alliance, however, which slammed the expense on incarcerated people.
"Taxpayers will go square-eyed at the cost of TVs for convicts,” William Yarwood, media campaign manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance told the Daily Star.
"Ministers need to get a grip and make sure prison is a punishment and not an opportunity to catch up on programmes."
The Daily Star also gathered information on the prisons that had spent the most on TVs for communal spaces in prisons, such as gyms, chapels and education facilities, rather than inside inmates cells.
At the top of the pile for 2023/24 was HMYOI Cookham Wood, which splurged £17,437.97 on 184 TVs for shared spaces.
The same institution had also spent the second highest amount on the same thing the year before, dropping £12,839.50 on 212 units. Its spend was topped only by HMP Werrington, which splurged £19,821.00 on 127 units.
In the year 2019 to 2020, which was the last year prior where there is available data, HMYOI Feltham and HMYOI Wetherby spent the most, with Feltham forking out a massive £31,258.50 for 898 units.
Daily Star Sunday
EXCLUSIVE: The Daily Star has learned via the Freedom of Information Act that British taxpayers have made outlays of roughly £15million in the last five years on TVs for lags – But the Ministry of Justice isn't worried
British taxpayers have forked out more than £15million to fund televisions for prisoners in the last five years, the Daily Star can reveal.
Data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act reveals that since the start of 2019, £15,035,793 has been spent on prisoner TVs. The Ministry of Justice has been quick to note that prisoners have to pay for access to TVs and claims that much of the money is recuperated through the scheme, in some cases close to all of it.
In the period 2019 to 2024, a total of 181,800 TVs were bought, meaning the average cost of each TV was just shy of £83.
A Prison Service spokesperson told the Daily Star: “Access to in-cell TVs is paid for out of prisoners’ own money and can be removed if they break the rules.”
The service is only available to prisoners who show good behaviour. The Daily Star understands that access to them can be whipped away at short notice if prisoners are found to step out of line.
Confusingly, this expenditure was spread over 181,800 TVs, despite there only being roughly 87,000 prisoners in the UK.
Meanwhile, the TVs have limitation in both volume and channel, as well as a shortened power cable.
In the tax year 2022/23, £4,579,545 worth of tellies were bought by British prisons, the most in the period, which saw more than 48,000 units secured.
The second most prolific year was the year before, which saw £2,936,563 spent and more than 33,000 TVs bought.
The news has been met with criticism by the British TaxPayers' Alliance, however, which slammed the expense on incarcerated people.
"Taxpayers will go square-eyed at the cost of TVs for convicts,” William Yarwood, media campaign manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance told the Daily Star.
"Ministers need to get a grip and make sure prison is a punishment and not an opportunity to catch up on programmes."
The Daily Star also gathered information on the prisons that had spent the most on TVs for communal spaces in prisons, such as gyms, chapels and education facilities, rather than inside inmates cells.
At the top of the pile for 2023/24 was HMYOI Cookham Wood, which splurged £17,437.97 on 184 TVs for shared spaces.
The same institution had also spent the second highest amount on the same thing the year before, dropping £12,839.50 on 212 units. Its spend was topped only by HMP Werrington, which splurged £19,821.00 on 127 units.
In the year 2019 to 2020, which was the last year prior where there is available data, HMYOI Feltham and HMYOI Wetherby spent the most, with Feltham forking out a massive £31,258.50 for 898 units.
Daily Star Sunday