Rochdale prisoners pay less than Rochdale patients for TV

Prisoners from Rochdale are paying £1 a week to hire television sets for their cells while patients at Rochdale Infirmary are charged up to £23.

More than 1,200 inmates at Manchester Prison are believed to be eligible for the TV scheme. A small group are barred due to bad behaviour.

Shadow justice secretary Nick Herbert has now called for prisoners to be stripped of their automatic right to hire a set, insisting it should be a reward for good behaviour.

He said: “In-cell television is a privilege, not a right. It cannot be right that almost all prisoners get television sets in their cells for only £1 a week, while hospital patients have to pay many times that amount.

“Prisoners must show that they deserve a television set through good behaviour and engaging in purposeful activity.

“Under our proposals, prisoners who want to spend time in their cells watching television will need to earn the privilege, and those who won’t work will not have a set to watch.”

Rochdale Infirmary uses Patientline entertainment systems, which cost £3.50 a day or £10 for three days.

Patients over 65 receive six days’ worth of viewing for £10 or two days for £3.50. The service is free for under-16s.