A scheme in Scotland to give inmates mobile phones will cost the taxpayer up to £1million. Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf revealed the initiative last month after prison visits were cancelled due to coronavirus restrictions.
But more than six weeks later, none of the handsets have been handed out to jails - despite a seven-figure sum being earmarked for the initiative, reports the Daily Record.
The cash has come from a pilot scheme announced last June to put landlines in Polmont Young Offenders Institute in a bid to address mental health concerns, reports the Daily Record.
But a Scottish Prison Service (SPS) spokesman has said that had now been cancelled with the finance redirected to supply all prisoners with mobiles.