Assisted Prison Visits Scheme: Getting help with travel costs

Assist Scheme at HMPrisonService.gov.uk

If you are receiving benefits or are on a low income, you may be eligible to claim help with travel expenses when visiting a prison from the Assisted Prison Visits Unit (APVU).
Visitors' Centre staff and volunteers will be pleased to help you fill out forms.

Am I eligible?

You are eligible to claim if you are:

• A close relative of the person you wish to visit, ie, wife, husband, civil partner, mother, father, son, daughter, brother or sister, adoptive/step/half brother/sister, step-child or step-parent, or you are their sole visitor, ie, the only person who is visiting them. If you claim as a sole visitor, the APVU will confirm with the prison that the person has not been visited by anyone else in the six weeks prior to your visit.
• In receipt of Income Support, Income-Based Job Seekers Allowance, Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit with a disability element or Child Tax Credit, or hold a Health Benefits Certificate. You must send in your Health Benefits Certificate or tax/pension credit award notice the first time that you claim. Note: if someone else is claiming for your enter their details on the claim form.

If you are eligible it will NOT affect your usual benefits.

What if I am a prisoner's unmarried partner?

Partners who were living with the prisoner as a couple, in an established relationship immediately prior to imprisonment are eligible.

We weren't living together, but we have children together?

If this is the case, you may qualify for help by acting as an escort to the child(ren). You should send in proof that the prisoner is the parent of the child(ren) with your first application form. This can include a birth certificate or medical card or child benefit award or any official letter that confirms the child's surname is the same as the prisoner's. If not, the prisoner can sign an affidavit stating that they are the child's parent. A special declaration form is available from the APVU. The prisoner should sign the declaration in the presence of a justice of the peace or magistrate or a commissioner for oaths, or a practising solicitor or a notary public. There is a possibility that one of the above may be a serving member of the prison's Independent Monitoring Board (formally Board of Visitors). The prisoner should seek advice from the wing manager.

I need help to make the visit...

If you are aged under 18 or over 75 or in receipt of Disability Living Allowance or have a medical condition which makes travelling difficult you may quality for the travel expenses of companion to be paid.

How do I claim?

The first time you claim, you will have to fill in a fairly detailed form giving information about yourself and the person you want to visit. APVU forms can be obtained from the Prisoners' Families Helpline - 0808 808 2003.

They are also available at the prison, the prison visitor's centre, other prisoners' family support organisations, your local citizens' advice bureau, or ring APVU on 0121 626 2206 for a form.

You will not have to fill this form in every time you claim. APVU will send you a shorter repeat claim form with your giro cheque to use for subsequent visits.

What can I claim?

You can claim for one visit every 14 days up to a maximum of 26 a year. Claims must be made within 28 days of the date of the first visit.

Can I claim before my visit?

You can claim for payment for up to 2 visits before you travel. If you are travelling by train you will normally be sent a warrant to exchange for tickets at the station when you leave.

If you need to apply before you visit, allow ten working days plus 5 days for delivery by post for the APVU to process your claim and send you the giro cheque in time. You must send all receipts/tickets and a confirmation of visit voucher to APVU within 28 days of the visit taking place even if it is your last visit. Use the prepaid envelope that they send you (the confirmation of visit voucher is sent to you by APVU. It must be completed at the prison).

APVU will pay for travel to and from the prison by public transport or private motor vehicle. They will not pay for taxis unless the fare is less than the public transport alternative or there is no public transport available.

If you are away from home for five hours or more, you can also claim a set meal allowance. Overnight allowances may be paid at the discretion of the APVU. Before incurring any expenditure check with the APVU to confirm they will contribute to an overnight stay.

APVU will contribute towards the cost of childminding if it is not appropriate for the children to visit, but the child minder must be registered with the local authority. Also included is breakfast/after school clubs run by the local authority.

Full details of expenses covered by the scheme are given in the booklet that accompanies the claim form.

Can I claim for any extra visits?

Extra visits where you do not need a Visiting Order will be covered. This may include a special family day, children's day or where you are involved in a case conference or sentence planning. Include a short note with your application to tell the APVU or endorse the form "special visit".

Further information:

If there is anything else you need to know about the scheme you can write to the APVU at:

Assisted Prison Visits Unit
Freepost BM2257
PO Box 2152
Birmingham
B15 1BR.

The APVU customer helpline 0845 300 1423 is available between 10.15 to 11.45 and 14.15 to 15.45 Monday to Friday.  You can phone from the Visitors' Centre and NEPACS staff and volunteers will help you with this.

If you have a text phone for people with hearing difficulties, please phone 0845 304 0800. Information also available on audio cassette and in foreign languages.

Information is also available from the APVU on audio cassette and CD, in Braille, in Welsh and in a range of foreign languages.

Keeping in touch

Letters

If a prisoner is unconvicted, they are allowed to send out two free letters every week. If a prisoner is convicted, they can send out one free letter every week, the stamps paid for by the prison. Prisoners can send out as many letters as they like at their own expense. Normally, there is no limit to how many letters someone in prison can receive.

Telephone calls

PIN phones are now used in all prisons instead of phone cards. This means each prisoner is given a PIN number which he or she must key in before making each call. Prisoners may be asked to complete a form to select telephone numbers for family, friends and legal contacts, and the list has to be agreed by the prison. Outside the high security prisons and depending upon the category of a prisoner, it may be possible to make telephone calls to family, friends and legal contacts without having the number agreed beforehand.

The system works on a credit basis. Prisoners can buy credit from the prison shop and the cost of phone calls made is deducted automatically from their PIN account.

Email a prisoner

http://www.emailaprisoner.com/

Email a Prisoner enables you to send messages to prisoners in selected prisons from any computer, without any of the hassles of writing and posting a letter.  It costs less than a second class stamp.  
North East prisons which support the Email a Prisoner scheme are Acklington, Durham and Low Newton.

The message is delivered to the prison within seconds so that it can be delivered to the prisoner by the prison staff in the next delivery.

Once a member of the scheme you will be able to send a message to your friend or family member in prison provided you know their prisoner number from just 25 pence per message.