British TeleCons: Prisoners to Man Call Centres

UK prisoners at HMP Oakwood near Wolverhampton and Drake Hall in Staffordshire are being paid to work in call centres inside their prisons. The Centre for Crime Prevention has described the move as 'incredibly naïve'.

Inmates of the two institutions are carrying out market research for insurance companies, but the Ministry of Justice has confirmed that these workers cannot see sensitive information about the people they are calling, such as addresses, while the phone numbers of those called are also protected and routed through a computer.

Prisoners are given a script to ask homeowners to confirm their name and postcode, and then inquire about the total value of their possessions. They then ask the homeowner if they would like to save money on their home insurance. Peter Cuthbertson of the Centre for Crime Prevention warned that the process will enable burglars to 'know who to target' when they are released.

HMP Oakwood prison is run by outsourcing firm G4S, which famously failed to recruit enough staff for its security role at the 2012 Olympics, requiring the army to step in, and which is currently under investigation for overcharging the Government for security tagging of prisoners. In July, the Ministry of Justice's own ratings found Oakwood to be among the three 'worst-performing' jails in England and Wales.

A spokesperson from the firm confirmed in a statement: 'All the prisoners are carefully security checked and interviewed before working in the centre, calls are made remotely by computer, and every conversation is closely monitored by supervisors. No information from the calls is stored and there is no way any personal information can be used for any criminal purposes.'

Apart presumably from the caller knowing the name and postcode of the person called and the value of their possessions, as above? That's all right then.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.