In the first 24 hours after someone is received into prison in England and Wales, the governor is required to arrange for them to make a phone call. That is the most useful thing to know tonight: there should be a call, and it should be soon. After that, contact usually slows down for a few days before it settles.
Here is what happens, roughly in order, and what you can do at each point.
The first call
Policy is explicit that people newly received into prison often need to make an early call to let family know where they are, and it requires the governor to make local arrangements for that call within the first 24 hours of reception. Because a phone account has to have credit on it before any call can be made, PSI 49/2011 also sets out how this first one gets funded: either through a generic account "pre-funded with credits which are paid for from public funds", or by putting the person onto the system with their own account and issuing credit as an advance. In other words, that first call does not depend on them having any money, which matters because on the first day they almost certainly do not have any on the account yet. It is the one call in a sentence that is arranged for them rather than by them.
It may be short. It may come at an odd hour. It will be recorded, like almost every other call. And it may not tell you very much, because the person making it has had a very long day, has been moved between at least two institutions, and often does not yet know their own situation well enough to explain it. Do not read a flat or distracted first call as a sign of anything. It is worth having one or two practical questions ready — which prison, roughly what the phone arrangements are, whether they need anything sent — because a first call is easier to use than to fill.
If the phone does not ring at all in the first day or two, that does not necessarily mean anything has gone wrong. Court and transport timings vary, and reception into a prison can happen late at night.
Why your number then stops working
This is the part that blindsides people, usually on about day three.
Your number has to be on their approved contact list before the phone system will connect a call to it. Numbers are submitted by the person in prison, not by you, and there is no way for a family member to add themselves. GOV.UK puts the timing plainly: the list is checked by security when they first arrive, so it may take a few days before they are able to call.
Under PSI 49/2011, a prisoner on a call-enabling regime can hold up to 20 social numbers, alongside separate legal and confidential-access numbers. So there is room for the wider family — but each number goes through the same process.
And there is no way round it from your side, because the prison phone system does not accept incoming calls at all. If something urgent happens at home, the route is the prison's switchboard, not the number they ring you on.
Money, and why it is not instant
Two accounts matter, and confusing them costs people a week.
Money you send goes to their private cash account. Phone credit is separate: the person in prison has to transfer money across to it themselves before they can ring anyone. You cannot top up their phone credit directly, however much you send.
Calls are then charged by the minute from that credit. In England and Wales the rates have been 5.5p a minute to a mobile and 2.48p to a landline on weekdays since April 2025, on figures the Ministry of Justice released to Inside Time. Set against prison wages, which start at published minimums of £2.50 a week if someone is not working and £4.00 if they are, that is why calls are often shorter than either of you would like. It is the credit, not the affection, that runs out — and it is worth saying that to yourself in the first fortnight, because it does not feel that way at the time.
Nothing needs deciding about any of this in week one. If, once a routine settles, the calls are consistently being cut short by cost, how a landline number changes the rate explains the one lever families have. It is not urgent now.
None of this needs deciding this week, but the calls are usually where the money goes.
What you can do in the first week
Find out where they are, if you do not already know. The Ministry of Justice runs an official service, Apply to find a prisoner's location, covering England and Wales. You need a name plus either a date of birth or age, or a prisoner number, and the person in prison has to consent to their location being shared. A reply takes up to four weeks — so start it, but do not rely on it as your only route.
Write. Post is slower than a phone call and, in the first fortnight, often more reliable. It also arrives without a per-minute charge attached, and it can be read again later.
Wait to be asked about visits. Visits are arranged through the prison and usually need a visiting order. Trying to book before someone has settled and before the paperwork exists tends to produce frustration rather than a visit.
Expect the phone to be the main channel, and expect it to be awkward at first. Early calls are often stilted — there is a queue behind them, a clock running, and neither of you knows what to say. That improves. The questions families ask in the first weeks cover most of the practical ones.
Tell the people who need telling, and only them. There is no obligation on you to explain this to anyone. Employers, schools and neighbours are your decision and your timing.
Look after the practical things at home. Bills, tenancies, benefits and childcare do not pause. If money has suddenly changed shape in your household, get advice early rather than at the point of a red letter — the organisations below can point you to it.
A landline number lowers the rate their credit is charged at, once a routine settles.
Where to get help from people who do this every day
You do not have to work this out alone, and the people who do it professionally are free.
The Prisoners' Families Helpline, run by the charity Pact, is free, independent and confidential, and exists precisely for the first weeks — where someone is, how visits work, what happens next.
NICCO, the National Information Centre on Children of Offenders, is the right starting point if there are children involved, including how and when to tell them.
The Prison Reform Trust advice guide is the clearest plain-English summary of the rules, written for families rather than staff. POPS (Partners of Prisoners) offers support to relatives and is strong in the north west.
Frequently asked questions
The questions people ask in the first week.
When will they be able to call me?
There should be a call within the first 24 hours of reception. After that, calls depend on your number being added to their approved contact list, which is checked by security and may take a few days.
Why can't I call them?
The prison phone system does not accept incoming calls. Contact has to start from their side. For genuine emergencies, contact the prison's switchboard.
Can I put money on their phone?
Not directly. Money goes to their private cash account and they transfer it to phone credit themselves.
How do I find out which prison they are in?
Through the official Apply to find a prisoner's location service on GOV.UK. You need a date of birth or prisoner number as well as a name, the person has to consent, and a reply takes up to four weeks.
The first week is mostly waiting, and the waiting is worse because nobody tells you what the rhythm is meant to be. A call in the first day, a quiet patch while numbers are checked, then something that starts to look like a routine — that is the ordinary shape of it, and it is not a sign that anything has gone wrong.
When you get to that point, the plans are here.