Prisoners all receive a basic amount of cash to spend on the prison canteen each week.
The amount can vary from prison to prison however, the minimums are as follows:
Unemployed prisoners will receive a minimum of £2.50 per week.
Prisoners on short term sickness will also receive a minimum of £2.50 per week.
For long term sick prisoners and pensioners they will receive £3.25 per week.
In Female establishments those on maternity leave or caring (whilst detained) full time for their child they will receive £3.25 per week.
If a prisoner is at an outside hospital for any reason then they will receive a minimum of £4.35 per week.
Working prisoners (including those undertaking full time education) will receive a minimum of £4.00 per week but this can vary widely depending on the prison and the job.
For prisoners who also have their own money in the prisons accounts then they are permitted access to that private cash in addition to their wages/unemployed pay etc. The amount of the private cash they can have access to is controlled by the Incentives and Earned Privileges Scheme.
If they are on remand then they may access from their own funds:
£27.50 per week if on basic level IEP
£60.50 per week if on the standard level IEP
£66.00 per week if on enhanced level IEP
If they are convicted then these limits are:
£5.50 per week if on basic level IEP
£19.80 per week if on the standard level IEP
£33.00 per week if on the enhanced level IEP
Prisoners have 2 accounts with the prison.
They have the “private cash” account which is where any funds that are sent in for them from outside is held.
The other account is the “spends” account. This is where weekly prison pay is put and where the appropriate weekly limit of “private cash” is transferred to.