Yes, in many cases — but it is not a right, and it is not free. In England and Wales, access to in-cell television is one of six designated earnable incentives that every prison's local incentive scheme must include, which ties it to the incentive level the person is on (HMPPS Incentives Policy Framework, §5.35, re-issued 1 April 2025). Where a television is provided, they have to sign a compact agreeing to pay the national rate: £1 a week in a single cell, 50p a week in a shared cell. That money comes out of their spend account — the same account that pays for every call they make to you. Someone on the Basic level who does not have a television, or who has had one taken away as a disciplinary punishment, is not required to pay towards the rental cost. The standard in-cell broadcasting system carries nine free-to-view channels.
Can someone in prison have a television in their cell?
Often, yes. Policy for England and Wales sets out six earnable incentives that local schemes must include, and "access to in-cell television" is one of them (Incentives Policy Framework, §5.35). "Earnable" is the word that matters. It is something a prison can offer and withhold, not something that arrives with the cell.
Each prison runs its own scheme within that national framework, so the detail differs from one establishment to the next. If you have just heard that your partner or your son has a television, it does not mean they were handed a comfort. It means they are on a level where it is available and they have agreed to pay for it every week.
That distinction is worth holding on to in the first few days, when everything you hear second-hand sounds either better or worse than it is.
Do they pay for it, and how much?
They pay, weekly, from their own money. The policy is direct about it: where prisoners are provided with a TV, they must sign a compact agreeing to pay towards the cost in line with the national current rates — £1 in a single cell and 50p in a shared cell (Incentives Policy Framework, §5.44).
The compact attached to that framework tells the person signing it exactly where the money comes from: "You need to pay £1 each week to rent the TV. This money comes from your spend account."
Two people in the same prison, on the same level, can pay different amounts. Here are the national rates side by side.
| Situation | Weekly charge |
|---|---|
| Television in a single cell | £1 |
| Television in a shared cell | 50p |
| Basic level, no television provided | Nothing |
| Television forfeited as a disciplinary punishment | Nothing |
The compact also has a section headed "If you can't pay for the £1 weekly charge." The framework names that situation rather than leaving it unspoken. If money is tight on their account, it is worth asking them to read that part of the compact and tell you what their prison does about it, rather than either of you guessing.
Can the TV be taken away?
Yes, and by two different routes. One is disciplinary: the framework refers to prisoners "subjected to a disciplinary punishment of forfeiture of a TV", who then stop paying the rental charge while they do not have it.
The other is not a punishment at all. Governors have the authority to remove TV sets in individual cases if in-cell television appears to be having an adverse impact (Incentives Policy Framework, §5.45). That is a judgement made about one person in one cell, not a wing-wide rule.
So a television arriving is not permanent, and a television disappearing is not always a sign that something serious has happened. If it goes, the weekly charge goes with it.
Does paying for a TV leave less money for phone calls?
It comes out of the same pot. The compact says the rental money comes from the spend account, and that account is also what they draw on to buy phone credit. Nothing in policy ringfences one from the other.
Whether £1 a week matters depends entirely on what is in that account, which is usually far less than families expect — it is worth understanding how much credit they have to spend before you judge how the weekly charge lands.
The part you can actually change is not the television. It is the rate their credit is charged at when they ring you.
Calls from prison are charged at one rate to a landline and a higher rate to a mobile. Our service gives you a real 01 or 02 landline number, regulated by Ofcom, which forwards to your UK mainland mobile. When they ring that number, the call is charged at the landline rate. The same credit buys roughly twice as many minutes.
Be clear about the limits, because this is where cancelled subscriptions come from. The number has to be submitted by the person inside through the prison's normal process, and the prison decides whether to allow it — it can refuse, and published policy directs prisons to restrict numbers linked to diversion services. The calls are still recorded and monitored exactly as they were before. What changes is the rate, and nothing else.
If the saving is the part you doubt, that is the right thing to check first.
Does every prison offer the same channels?
No. The standard system for in-cell broadcasting provides prisoners with nine free-to-view channels (Incentives Policy Framework, §5.43). That is the national baseline, and it is what most people are describing when they say the television "only has a few channels".
Beyond that, governors can make additional channels available, limited by what the infrastructure at that prison can carry. Older buildings and newer ones are not equal on this. There is no single national channel list to check, so if it matters to them, the answer has to come from their wing rather than from the internet.
Does it work the same at every incentive level?
No, and this is the point families usually miss. In-cell television sits inside the incentive scheme, which runs across Basic, Standard and Enhanced. The level someone is on shapes what they can earn access to, including a television.
Basic is the clearest case. A person on Basic who does not have a television is not required to pay towards the rental cost, because there is nothing to rent. A move up or down the scheme can change both what is in the cell and what leaves the spend account each week.
The same scheme shapes their calls, which is why how incentive levels change weekly spending is worth reading alongside this. A level change is rarely only about a television.
If the mechanics of the number are still unclear — what you get, what they have to do, what the prison sees — that is covered step by step.
Frequently asked questions
Do families pay for the television?
Not directly. The charge comes from the spend account of the person in prison, as the compact they sign sets out. Money you send in goes to that account, so in practice it can end up covering the weekly rate.
Is the television free on the Enhanced level?
No. The national rates are £1 a week in a single cell and 50p in a shared cell wherever a television is provided. The framework does not set a different rate by level; what the level affects is whether a television is available at all.
Can they refuse the television to save money?
The compact is an agreement to pay where a television is provided, and the framework states that someone on Basic without a television is not required to pay. What that means in a particular prison is a question for their wing, and the answer should come from staff rather than from another prisoner.
Why is the shared cell rate lower?
The framework sets the rates at £1 in a single cell and 50p in a shared cell without explaining the reasoning, so the honest answer is that two people sharing each pay the lower rate.
Does having a television change how many calls they can make?
Not by any rule. Both the rental charge and their phone credit come from the same spend account, so the two compete for the same money. The rate their calls are charged at, on the other hand, is something you can change.
If you are weighing it up against everything else coming out of that account, the numbers are set out here.
A television is something they earn and pay for weekly; the rate on their calls to you is the part that sits on your side of the wall.