Mobile phones to be locked away in every school in Cheshire

Mobile phones will be locked away during the school day in every state high school in Cheshire, as part of a new initiative led by Cheshire Police and Crime Commissioner Dan Price.

Dan Price wants Cheshire to be the first county in the UK where ALL state high schools have lockable phone pouches - and he’s backing it with a funding plan of up to £150k.

Only nine of the county’s mainstream high schools have introduced lockable phone pouches. While many schools have ‘out of sight’ mobile bans, these are often ineffective or problematic to enforce.

Schools with lockable pouches are seeing immediate, widespread, positive results in wellbeing and a dramatic reduction in online safeguarding incidents; one quoting an 80% reduction in these.

Behaviour is better, concentration is up and one school has seen a fivefold increase in library usage since introducing pouches, as well as a surge in interest in enrichment activities.

In October 2025, Cheshire mum Esther Ghey, whose daughter Brianna was murdered in 2023, launched a national Phone Free Education campaign in parliament. Dan Price believes Cheshire can lead in this space by being the first county in the UK to make it happen.

PCC Dan Price said:

“From a crime prevention perspective, this is an absolute no-brainer. Less online bullying, less access to potentially harmful or violent content, less distractions, less exclusions. In Cheshire of all places, we know the impact this can have. That’s why we must make this happen here.”

Funding:

On Friday 7th November, Cheshire PCC Dan Price launched plans to set aside up to £150k over two years to support schools in Cheshire to adopt phone pouches. This will target funding to those in receipt of free school meals, if their schools can find a way to fund the remaining amount.

This will not cover all of the funding they need. Matched funding from other public and philanthropic funds could further accelerate this plan to make sure all state high schools operate an effective phone-free solution by 2026.

With a conservative cost of £8.75 per pupil (and likely to reduce further by pooling procurement), the PCC hopes that a county-wide approach may offer significant savings.

Esther Ghey said:

“I urge every school in Cheshire to take advantage of this amazing initiative. Dan Price is absolutely leading the way, showing real commitment to improving young people’s wellbeing and safety. Lockable phone pouches are a simple step towards creating safer and more focused classrooms. I truly hope other Police and Crime Commissioners across the country follow his lead.”

As well as funding, schools who participate will receive support from this initiative in the form of information materials for parents and pupils, implementation plans and expertise from those schools that have already rolled out pouches.

National context:

• 79% of UK schools operate the lowest form of mobile phone ban
• Only 3.5% of schools ban phones being brought to school outright
• Only 7.9% of schools ask students to leave their phones in a secure place
• 1 in 5 teenagers are disturbed in lessons by phones everyday
• 13% of children aged 11-15 say their school never confiscates phones – even if pupils break the rules
• Exclusion rates in schools with pouches are drastically falling as the addictive nature of smartphones is broken during the school day.

*Stats from School phone policies in England, Children’s Commissioner, April 2025, and Parentkind polling March 2025