HMP Frankland Phone Calls

When a loved one is sent to HMP Frankland, getting communication established is usually the most immediate concern for families. As a Category A high-security prison, Frankland has stricter security protocols than lower-category establishments, which affects how long the phone list approval process takes and how calls are monitored. Understanding this from the start helps set realistic expectations and makes the whole process less stressful.

The good news is that Frankland has in-cell phones, which gives considerably more flexibility than older prisons with only communal wing handsets. The challenge is the cost, calls to mobile numbers are expensive under the current HMPPS tariff, and for many families serving long sentences the cumulative monthly spend on phone credit becomes a serious financial burden. This guide explains exactly what you are dealing with and what the most effective options are for managing it.

About HMP Frankland

HMP Frankland is a Category A men's high-security prison situated in the village of Brasside, approximately three miles north of Durham city centre. Opened in 1983, the prison was built to relieve pressure on the growing UK prison population and has since developed a specific focus: housing the country's most dangerous and highest-risk prisoners. It is part of the High Security Estate in England and Wales, a network of maximum-security facilities that also includes HMP Belmarsh, HMP Full Sutton, and HMP Wakefield. Frankland is operated directly by His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service.

The prison holds approximately 850 adult male prisoners across eight wings, all in single-occupancy cells. Every cell has its own toilet and sink. The population includes Category A prisoners, those for whom escape must be made extremely difficult, alongside lower-risk Category B prisoners. Many of the men held at Frankland are serving very long sentences, including life sentences, for serious violent offences, terrorism-related crimes, and multiple murders. The prison has been nicknamed "Monster Mansion" in the press due to the notoriety of some of its residents.

Despite its high-security status, Frankland places significant emphasis on rehabilitation and reducing reoffending. Education is delivered by Milton Keynes College, covering courses from basic skills through to degree level, with prisoners able to study full-time or part-time in industrial, vocational, and academic settings. Work opportunities include furniture production, cutting and sewing, and recycling. A range of offending behaviour programmes are offered, as well as specialist mental health provision through the Westgate Unit, which delivers assessment and treatment for up to 65 high-risk adult male offenders with complex personality disorder.

The prison sits adjacent to HMP Low Newton, a closed women's prison. The nearest railway station is Durham, with taxis and buses connecting to Brasside. There is free car parking at the prison and on-street parking nearby.

HMP Frankland Contact Details

How Phone Calls Work at HMP Frankland

HMP Frankland has in-cell phones, confirmed by the official GOV.UK page for the prison. This means prisoners can make calls from their cells rather than having to queue for communal handsets during restricted association periods. The availability of in-cell phones makes regular contact considerably more manageable for families, particularly those who live far from the prison and cannot rely on visits as their primary form of contact.

All calls at Frankland operate through a PIN phone system. When a prisoner arrives, they are given a personal identification number that is linked to their individual phone account. Before making any call, they enter this PIN on the handset. The system checks whether the number being dialled is on their pre-approved contact list. If it is, the call connects and the cost is deducted from their credit balance. If the number is not on the approved list, the call will not go through.

Because HMP Frankland is a Category A high-security establishment, the phone system operates under tighter security protocols than at lower-category prisons. Officers may listen to calls as part of crime prevention and safety monitoring. All social calls, with the exception of calls to solicitors and legal representatives on a separate legal account, are recorded. Both parties are told at the start of every call that it is being recorded. There is no way to opt out on a personal call, and families should be aware that monitoring at a high-security prison is more active than at Category C or D establishments.

You cannot call a prisoner at HMP Frankland. Like all UK prisons, Frankland does not accept incoming calls on the prisoner phone system. All calls are outgoing only, always initiated by the prisoner. If you have an urgent welfare concern, call the emergency line on 0191 376 5000 and ask for the Orderly Officer rather than trying to reach your loved one directly by phone.

How to Get Added to the Phone List at HMP Frankland

Before your loved one can call you, your number needs to be on their approved contact list. The GOV.UK page for HMP Frankland confirms that this list is checked by security when a prisoner first arrives and that it may take a few days before they are able to call. In practice, as a Category A prison, the security vetting process at Frankland can take longer than the standard two to five days seen at lower-security establishments. Families of newly arrived prisoners should plan for up to a week or more before the first call comes through, particularly if the prisoner has transferred from another establishment where different procedures were in place.

Each prisoner can hold up to 20 approved numbers on their personal PIN list. Legal contacts are held on a separate legal account and do not count towards this limit. If you change your phone number, your loved one will need to submit the new number for security approval again, which means another wait before calls to the new number can be made.

Rather than giving your loved one your mobile number to add to the list, pass them a Prison Call virtual landline number instead. From the very first approved call, every minute is charged at the cheaper landline rate. You receive all calls on your mobile as normal and no app is needed.

Phone Call Costs at HMP Frankland in 2026

The cost of calls from HMP Frankland follows the national HMPPS tariff, which applies across all publicly managed prisons in England and Wales. These rates were reduced by 20% in April 2025 following a Ministry of Justice renegotiation and are fixed until 31 May 2027. All call costs are charged to the prisoner's phone credit account, not to you as the recipient.

To put this in practical context: a 20-minute weekday call to a mobile costs £1.10 in phone credit. If your loved one calls every weekday for 20 minutes, that is approximately £22 per month from weekday calls alone. Many prisoners at Frankland are serving long sentences and will be making calls for years. Over a five-year sentence, a family receiving daily 20-minute mobile calls at the current rate would see their loved one spend more than £1,300 on phone credit just for those calls. Switching to a virtual landline reduces that figure by over half.

Phone credit is purchased through the prison canteen system, funded from the prisoner's private cash balance. Prisoners at Frankland can earn some credit through prison work, but wages are low — typically between £5 and £20 per week depending on the activity. Most families top up the balance regularly by sending money via the GOV.UK service, which means the cost of calls is ultimately borne by the family rather than the prisoner.

How to Cut the Cost of Calls From HMP Frankland by Over 55%

The difference between the mobile rate (5.50p per minute) and the landline rate (2.48p per minute) is more than 55%. This gap exists because of how the HMPPS telephony contract with BT categorises different number types. Standard UK geographic landline numbers — those beginning with 01, 02, or 03 — sit in a cheaper billing tier than mobile numbers starting with 07. Most families today do not have a traditional home landline, which means prisoners end up calling mobile numbers by default and paying the higher rate on every single call.

A virtual landline changes this without requiring you to go back to a physical phone line. A virtual landline is a standard UK local phone number — for example a 0191 Durham number or whatever area code matches your location, that automatically forwards calls to your mobile. Your loved one adds this number to their PIN list instead of your mobile. When they dial it from their in-cell phone, the prison system charges them the landline rate. You receive the call on your mobile exactly as you would any normal call. No app to install, no changes to your phone, no new equipment on either end.

On a daily 20-minute weekday call, switching from a mobile to a Prison Call virtual landline saves 61p per call, over £13 per month and more than £160 per year. For a family supporting someone serving a five-year sentence, that is over £800 in total savings. The phone credit that used to last two weeks now lasts more than four weeks from the same amount sent in. That means fewer top-ups needed from outside and longer calls without rationing time.

Prison Call provides this service from £19.99 per month with same-day number activation, no setup fee, and a 30-day satisfaction guarantee. If your loved one is transferred from Frankland to another prison, which can happen the number works at every UK establishment. They simply add it to the new PIN list and calls continue at the same cheaper rate.

Sending Money to Someone at HMP Frankland

Phone credit at HMP Frankland is purchased through the prison canteen system, funded from the prisoner's private cash balance. To add money to that balance, families use the official online service at gov.uk/send-prisoner-money. You pay by Mastercard, Visa, or Maestro debit card, and you need the prisoner's full name, date of birth, and prison number. The service is completely free and funds typically arrive within one to three working days. Bank transfers, postal orders, cheques, and cash by post are no longer accepted at any HMPPS prison.

The GOV.UK page for Frankland also confirms that you cannot post or hand in parcels for a prisoner. Anything a prisoner needs must be ordered through prison catalogues. However, books are an exception, friends and family can send books directly, or order them from approved retailers listed in the Prison Education and Library Services guidance on GOV.UK.

The prison number appears on letters, court paperwork, or visit confirmation documents. If you do not have it yet, call the main switchboard on 0191 376 5048 and ask the reception team to help you find it.

Other Ways to Stay in Touch With Someone at HMP Frankland

You can write to someone at HMP Frankland at any time. Address all letters to Business Hub, HMP Frankland, Brasside, Durham, DH1 5YD and always include the prisoner's full name and prison number on the envelope. All post other than clearly marked legal correspondence is opened and checked by staff before delivery. There is no limit on how many letters you can send. Writing in the first days after arrival — before the phone list is approved — is an important way to maintain contact while the security clearance process works through.

The GOV.UK page for Frankland confirms that the Email a Prisoner service is available. You can send messages through emailaprisoner.com and they are printed and delivered to the cell, usually the next working day. Depending on current rules at the prison, you may also be able to attach photos and receive typed replies. There is a small per-message fee. It is a cost-effective supplement to phone calls, particularly for longer updates that would consume significant call time.

The GOV.UK page for Frankland confirms that the Prison Voicemail service is available at the prison. This allows families to leave recorded messages that prisoners can listen to on their in-cell phone without using their outgoing call credit. It is worth setting up as a backup — if your loved one is running low on credit, voicemail means they can still hear from you without the cost of a call.

Secure video calls are available at HMP Frankland through the Prison Video app at prisonvideo.com. The GOV.UK page confirms that video calls are requested by the prisoner and you will receive a notification if one has been arranged. Official video visits run Monday to Friday, 9am to 11am and 2pm to 4pm — bookable by emailing videolinkfrankland@justice.gov.uk. For children especially, seeing a parent makes a significant difference to the quality of contact.

National Prison Radio broadcasts 24 hours a day into cells across England and Wales. Families can submit song requests, written messages, and pre-recorded voice messages at no cost through nationalprisonradio.com. These are read and played out on weekly episodes. It is a small gesture that costs nothing and lets your loved one know they are being thought of between calls.

Visiting HMP Frankland

Before you can attend a visit, you must be on the prisoner's visitor list. Your loved one adds you to this list from inside the prison. You can then book a visit online through the prison visits booking system at gov.uk/prison-visits, or by calling the booking line on 0191 376 5048, which is open Monday to Friday, 9am to midday. Social visits run Tuesday to Sunday, 2pm to 4pm. You will receive an email confirming your visit within one to three days of booking. Visits must be booked at least two days in advance.

The number of visits a prisoner can have depends on their privilege level, which you can check with the prison. Up to two adults can attend a visit at one time, along with any children. At least one visitor must be aged 18 or over. The visitors centre at Frankland is run by Nepacs and is open on visiting days from 11:30am to 4:15pm. Refreshments must be ordered and paid for in the visitors centre before the visit starts — not during.

Frankland has a strict dress code policy. Visitors must wear smart clothes and are not permitted to wear vests, low-cut tops, shorts, short dresses, ripped clothing, offensive slogans, or camouflage. Headwear is not permitted except for religious reasons. All visitors aged 16 or older must bring valid photo ID. All visitors, including children, receive a pat-down search and may be subject to drug detection dogs.

The family support service at Frankland is provided by Partners of Prisoners (POPS), which has staff present at the visitors centre. POPS provides information, guidance, and support to families and friends of prisoners across a range of practical issues. If you are visiting for the first time or have concerns about any aspect of the visit, speaking to a POPS representative before or after the visit is a good starting point.

Frankland runs approximately 12 family days per year. Details are provided to prisoners via notices on the wing and are also posted in the visitors centre. Family days allow for a more relaxed and extended visit and are particularly valuable for children.

Durham railway station is the closest rail connection, roughly three miles from the prison. From Durham station, taxis or local buses run to Brasside. There is free car parking at the prison and on-street parking nearby. The full address for sat-nav is Finchale Avenue, Brasside, Durham, DH1 5YD.

If you are eligible for certain benefits or hold an NHS health certificate, you may be able to get help with the cost of your visit through the Assisted Prison Visits Scheme, which can cover travel, overnight stays, and meals. Details are available at gov.uk/help-with-prison-visits.