"The ministry announced a bridging agreement under which BT will continue to provide the PTS to prisons in England and Wales from June 1, 2027 - the current contract's expiry date - to November 30, 2031. The ministry says it needs the time to buy and set up its replacement, the Prisoner Integrated Communications Service (PICS), which will allow monitored voice calls, messaging, and possibly video calls through digital devices."
"PTS covers 109 prisons in England and Wales, allowing around 70,000 prisoners to call a limited number of approved numbers from their cells. They pay for calls to family, friends, and lawyers, and can contact the Samaritans support service for free. The service is sometimes known as PIN phones as prisoners use personal identification numbers to access their accounts, with their call details logged and audio recorded and monitored, except for conversations with legal advisers."
"The department was courting potential suppliers in February 2023, but in November that year, the MoJ said it was pausing the project to allow 'a further period of discovery.' In April 2024, it published a prior information notice for PICS with an estimated value of £330 million plus VAT. Procurement was scheduled to start 'no earlier than early 2026.' A subsequent supplier event was delayed by the general election."
The UK Ministry of Justice announced a bridging agreement with BT to continue the Prisoner Telephony Service (PTS) in English and Welsh prisons from June 2027 to November 2031 for £94.6 million plus VAT. This extension delays the procurement of the replacement Prisoner Integrated Communications Service (PICS), which will offer monitored voice calls, messaging, and video calls through digital devices. The PICS project has experienced multiple delays since initial supplier engagement in February 2023, with procurement now pushed to 2027. The estimated value for PICS has decreased from £330 million to £302.4 million over 14 years. The current PTS serves approximately 70,000 prisoners across 109 prisons, enabling calls to approved numbers with recorded and monitored audio.
#prisoner-telephony-service #uk-ministry-of-justice #contract-extension #prison-communications #procurement-delay
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