The Scottish Prison Service has spent a total of £3.2m on mobile phones for prisoners, according to new figures.

A scheme enabling inmates to access mobile phones was introduced at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in response to the suspension of visits.

However, figures published by Audit Scotland indicate the scheme has cost taxpayers around £500,000 more than had been anticipated.

There have previously been calls for the devices to be withdrawn permanently after it emerged that the supposedly ‘un-hackable’ devices were being used to buy drugs and to organise other crimes.

Want to see more SNP fails? – Economic Matters