Landline telephones are to be fitted in Scottish jail cells for the first time.

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) said the new phones will replace mobile devices issued during the COVID pandemic, when visiting was restricted.

Inmates will be given 200 free minutes per month to call numbers on a pre-approved list, which the SPS will be able to monitor and record.

The SPS said the hard-wired landlines, which will cost £8.5m to install, will be “subject to the same robust security” as the mobiles and phones in the halls.

It is hoped the move will help support family contact, improve mental health and wellbeing, and reduce the risk of reoffending.

Angela Constance, Scotland’s justice secretary, described it as a “welcome development”.

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