Prisons Are Not For Profit

The POA are the professional independent trade union that represents 36,500 members throughout the United Kingdom, the majority of our members are in England and Wales working in public sector prisons and secure hospitals. We currently have approximately 1,000 members working for the private sector where companies have been given contracts ranging from 5 to 25 years.

The POA were opposed to the operation of private prisons and secure institutions for the profit of the shareholders long before the opening of ‘The Wolds’ Prison in 1992 under a Conservative Government and we continue to be opposed. The Labour Party, whilst in opposition, claimed that this was one area where a “free market should not exist” and further more, Jack Straw, as Shadow Home Secretary described it as “morally repugnant” to profit from incarceration. The POA agreed with those sentiments some 16 years ago and has been consistent ever since in its opposition to privately run prisons.

The privatisation of prisons as a concept was exported by the United States of America and successive British Governments have increased the prisons for profit sector that now make up 10% of the prison estate, which is a higher percentage than any other country. The Ministry of Justice recently announced in April 2009 that the Government now intends to increase the number of privately managed prisons through a programme of competition where the public sector are excluded from bidding and through the market testing of existing public prisons deemed to be performing badly and/ or which appear to be costly. Two publicly run prisons – Birmingham and Wellingborough have been identified without scrutiny from Parliament or public debate and could end up in the private sector by next year if not challenged by November 2009 when the bid timetable ends. The POA will campaign to ensure the public sector prison service is not put up for sale and for private shareholder profits. The General public have a right to know how their money is spent and the POA will ensure it is brought to the forefront via our high profile “Prisons Are Not For Profit” campaign.

POA STANCE

The POA recognise that the economic climate is such that the world, not just the United Kingdom, is in financial difficulty and that in such times the general public are entitled to expect public services to be run even more run efficiently and yet in accordance with best practice. We stand ready to assist any Government to achieve that aim through consultation and constructive negotiation.

The POA do not believe that either the public or members of Parliament have been properly consulted or fully informed as to why it is allegedly in the interest of this country not to defend public services within the criminal justice system and privatise them for the profit of shareholders.

EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THE POA

The Howard League for Penal reform recently commissioned a study by a number of influential experts such as Cherie Booth QC, Baroness Corston and Professor Andrew Coyle into the running of our prisons. The report confirmed much of what the POA have been stating to Governments for over a decade. It called for a reduction of the prison population, the end to overcrowding, the replacement of short prison sentences with community based responses. It also called for the dismantling of the bureaucratic and costly National Offender Management Service agency and it emphasised that the work of prisons should be focussed on rehabilitation. This would stop the need for any new private prison opening which is a costly option.

It is worth noting that the original Leagues Commission on English Prisons Today, which reported in 1922 was hugely influential, not just among the political classes but in influencing popular attitudes to crime and punishment. To match the impact of that original report will be difficult but the opportunity to stimulate debate on the principles of our penal system has now arisen and must not be missed.

In 2005, following a proposal from the POA the then Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, halted a proposed Market Test of the three prisons on the Isle of Sheppey in favour of a Performance Improvement Planning process. That process delivered value for money and improved service across the three establishments. This process cost far less than a programme of Market Testing and achieved all of the aims the Government say their Market Testing programme is intended to deliver. The POA calls for a return to Performance Improvement Planning which is both cost effective and has produced measurable improvements and the abandonment of Market Testing.

TIME SPAN

Members of Parliament on all sides need to understand the urgent need to be involved in the debate on the legitimacy of privatising our prisons and on the question of what benefi ts are to be gained from the Market Testing of Prisons. By our campaign “Prisons Are Not For Profit” the POA will demonstrate that the brave men and women who work in the PUBLIC SECTOR deserve better. Why should our members in the public sector be at risk of being transferred to the private sector when the Director General of NOMS is on the record as saying, “that private prison operators have brought little innovation to the management of custody and that the gains such as they are have come from using fewer staff, paying lower wages and providing less employment protection for staff.” He also pointed out that the process placed a huge cost burden on both those who bid and those who have to assess those bids.

Prison officers do not deserve this disgraceful treatment. The statistic show that reducing staffi ng levels, a major weapon in the privateer’s armoury, leads to an increased rate of assaults in prisons. Privatisation will put public servants lives at risk when staffing levels are reduced to ensure that the private prison operators make profi ts they can distribute to their shareholders. Why should our members and their families face an uncertain future when there is little demonstrative evidence that this programme will deliver either real savings or genuine effi ciencies. The POA will demonstrate that Privatisation and Market Testing is not the answer and is an unnecessary imposition on the dedicated individuals who have met year on year performance targets. We request that members of Parliament debate Market Testing. We contend that the existing evidence, if tested, will not match this Governments aims and objectives or support their claims.

CONCLUSION

The POA have re-launched our campaign “Prisons Are Not For Profit”. We will vigorously promote our campaign throughout the summer. Please join our campaign and prevent the profi teers from distorting our Criminal Justice System. Please read the excellent report on the Commission on English prisons today. Engage with the POA to stop Private Prisons and have a Justice system that we can all be proud of. THE POA WORKING WITH MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT FOR AN AFFORDABLE BUT FAIR AND JUST SOCIETY. 

Visit www.publicnotprivate.org.uk for more information.

Colin Moses National Chairman		Brian Caton General Secretary