Legal representatives: Change to official prison video calls from 20 January 2025
Published 9 January 2025
Applies to England and Wales
© Crown copyright 2025
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Prison Rules have been updated to include official meetings by video. This means that prison staff no longer need to seek consent to intermittently observe video call participants from a screen in the control room.
This is no different to what happens during a visit in person. Instead of an officer patrolling and observing the physical meeting, the control room officer will periodically check the screen in each video room. This will be a visual check only. The officer cannot hear you.
0.1 Privacy during video calls
With physical visits, staff are not permitted to enter the room, hear discussions or examine evidence. Video calls are no different. Staff may visually observe the call for a short period of time to make sure no one enters the call who should not be there.
Prison staff have been provided with instructions and training on how to use the video control room console and what is and is not permitted. Similarly, they have been provided with instructions and training on how to patrol the video area physically and what is and is not permitted.
0.2 Refusing intermittent observation
If you or your client refuse to be observed from the control room, the video call can still go ahead with staff monitoring the call as part of the physical video area patrols. Or, you may book an in-person visit instead.
0.3 Relevant prisons
To date, intermittent viewing from a screen in the control room applies to 17 prisons (those with a video conferencing centre, plus HMP Berwyn):
- Berwyn
- Birmingham
- Bronzefield
- Bullingdon
- Doncaster
- Durham
- Elmley
- Exeter
- Forest Bank
- Hewell
- Leeds
- Norwich
- Nottingham
- Peterborough
- Preston
- Thameside
- Wandsworth
0.4 Further information
Further queries/enquiries can be made by email to security.procedures@justice.gov.uk.