Yes. In England and Wales you can ask for your number to be restricted so the person in prison cannot ring it. You do not arrange this with your mobile network. The request goes to the prison holding that person, and prison staff decide. Published policy sets out a route for restrictions linked to non-contact requests made by members of the public, including by a person or authority with primary responsibility for a child, and by third parties making the request with the consent of the subject (HMPPS Interception, Monitoring and Security of Prisoner Communications Policy Framework, 11 August 2026). A number is also kept off the prison phone system where the person is identified as the victim of that prisoner. If a restriction is applied, both the prisoner and the contact must be told, with broad reasons why. If you feel unsafe, ring the National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247 first.
Can you stop someone in prison from ringing you?
You can ask, and the prison can act on it. The decision is not yours and it is not your network's, which is the part most people get wrong on the first attempt.
The framework groups this with other restrictions applied on public protection grounds. It points to PSI 18/2016 – Public Protection Manual and lists "restrictions applied in relation to non-contact requests made by members of the public" alongside "restrictions applied by court order or injunction preventing contact" (Policy Framework, 11 August 2026).
So there are two separate doors. One is a request you make directly. The other is an order already made by a court, which the prison acts on as a restriction in its own right.
Calls from prison are not dialled freely. They run through an account of approved numbers, and a number that is restricted is a number that cannot sit on that account — how the PIN phone system works explains the mechanics behind that.
Two free national lines exist for the questions either side of this. The National Domestic Abuse Helpline is on 0808 2000 247, free and open 24 hours, and is where to start with anything touching abuse or your own safety. The Prisoners' Families Helpline, run by the charity Pact, is free on 0808 808 2003 and handles how prisons work: who to ask for, what the process looks like, what a transfer changes.
These rules are England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland run separate prison services under different contracts, and what follows does not describe them.
Who decides whether a number is restricted?
The prison the person is held in. The framework is direct about it: "the restriction of communications of a specific prisoner should be applied by the establishment they are residing in, unless it is considered necessary and proportionate to block a number more widely across the estate", in which case "a request to apply the restriction must be made to the Central Authorities Bureau (CAB)".
That distinction matters to you. A restriction at establishment level is tied to where that person is now. An estate-wide block is the exception, made nationally, and only where it is judged necessary and proportionate.
There is a second route that does not depend on a request at all. A number is kept off the prison phone system where the person is "identified as the victim of a prisoner and the decision is made in line with 2.26 of PSI 49/2011 – Prisoner Communication Services". If that describes you, say so plainly when you contact the prison, because it changes which rule staff are working to.
Numbers also come off accounts for reasons that have nothing to do with a request from you, which is worth understanding before you assume that silence means your request went through — why a prison blocks a number covers those.
If you have arrived here from the opposite direction — you want the calls, and you are working out how a diversion number changes the rate each one is charged at — the mechanism is set out in full.
What happens after a restriction request is made?
Someone is told. Both of you, in fact. Governors and authorising officers "must ensure that the prisoner and the contact is informed of the restriction using the letter in Annex A 'Notification for Prisoner subject to Communication Restrictions' including broad reasons as to why".
Read that twice before you make the request. The person in prison is notified that a restriction exists and is given broad reasons for it. You are notified too, which is how you end up with written confirmation rather than guesswork.
If that notification is a concern for your safety, raise it at the point you make the request, not after. Ask the prison what its letter will say and who it goes to. The Prisoners' Families Helpline on 0808 808 2003 can talk you through who to put that question to.
Can you block the number on your own phone as well?
You can, and it does something different. A block you set on your handset or through your network is a setting you control. It stops a call reaching your screen. It does not tell the prison anything, it does not sit on the prisoner's account, and nobody has to act on it but you.
A restriction applied by the prison works at the other end. It goes to the account the calls are made from, and it carries the notification described above.
Most people in this position end up using both. The table below sets out where each one actually operates.
| Block on your phone | Restriction applied by the prison | |
|---|---|---|
| Who decides | You | The establishment, or the CAB for a wider block |
| Where it works | Your handset or network | The prisoner's approved-number account |
| Who is told | Nobody | The prisoner and the contact, with broad reasons |
| Covers other prisons | No | Only if blocked more widely across the estate |
One practical point before you set a handset block: you need to know what you are blocking. Calls do not always present the way people expect, and what number shows up when a prison call comes through sets out what tends to appear.
What if the calls continue after a restriction is in place?
Go back to the prison that applied it, and put the dates and times in writing. Staff can only act on what they can see.
If the person has moved establishment, say so. A restriction applied by the establishment they were residing in is tied to that establishment, unless it was taken to the Central Authorities Bureau and applied more widely across the estate.
If there is a court order or injunction preventing contact, name it. The framework treats that as its own ground for restriction, separate from a request made by a member of the public.
And if contact continues in a way that frightens you, that is a police matter as much as a prison one.
Who can help if you feel unsafe?
For anything touching domestic abuse or your personal safety, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247 is a better first call than a prison switchboard. It is free and runs 24 hours, and the website is nationaldahelpline.org.uk.
For questions about how prisons work, the Prisoners' Families Helpline on 0808 808 2003 is free and run by Pact, at prisonersfamilies.org.
Both are independent of us. Neither will ask you to justify wanting distance.
Frequently asked questions
Can I make a non-contact request on someone else's behalf?
Policy allows for it in defined circumstances. The framework covers non-contact requests "made by members of the public, including by a person or authority with primary responsibility for a child, and by third parties making the request with the consent of the subject" (Policy Framework, 11 August 2026). Consent is the pivot for a third-party request, so be ready to evidence it.
Will the person in prison be told it was me?
They will be told a restriction has been applied, and given broad reasons why, using the letter at Annex A of the framework. What those reasons contain in a given case is a matter for the prison, so ask before you make the request if the answer affects your safety.
Does a restriction apply across every prison?
Not automatically. It is applied by the establishment the person is residing in, and only goes wider where it is considered necessary and proportionate to block a number across the estate, through a request to the Central Authorities Bureau.
What if I am the victim in the case?
Then a separate rule applies. A number is kept off the prison phone system where the person is identified as the victim of that prisoner and the decision is made in line with 2.26 of PSI 49/2011 – Prisoner Communication Services. Say this explicitly when you contact the prison.
Does any of this apply in Scotland or Northern Ireland?
No. This framework covers England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland operate separate prison services under different arrangements, and you would need to ask the prison there directly.
Families reading this from the other side of the question — the ones trying to keep contact going rather than stop it — tend to arrive with the same handful of queries about how a diversion number behaves.
Put the request in writing, to the prison holding that person, and keep the reply.