Press Releases

Detention Custody Officers at the Gatwick Immigration Removal Centres are celebrating a major victory following the outcome of an employment tribunal case.

The appalling state of HMP Pentonville is one of the clearest examples of the crisis facing the country’s prisons a union leader has said. 

"Our Prison staff work in some of the most hostile workplaces in Western Europe, which is why the POA has long called for better protective equipment for our members.

Responding to the report from Independent Sentencing Review chaired by former Lord Chancellor, David Gauke, Steve Gillan, General Secretary of the POA said:

Responding to the speech made at the Prison Officers Association Conference by the Prisons Minister Lord Timpson, Steve Gillan, General Secretary of the Prison Officers Association said: 

“The prisons of England and Wales are chronically overcrowded - they are currently operating at 99% capacity. This is having a very destabilising effect, with soaring levels of violence against staff and prisoners. The pressures facing our members are intolerable. This is not new, we have been warning the Government about this for years.

Geoff Willetts of the Prison Officers Association said: “I am advised that one of our members at HMP Woodhill was attacked by a prisoner who was detained under the Terrorism act of 2008. The Officer was assaulted and injured while carrying out his duties.

The National Chair of the Union representing the UKs 34,000 Prison Officers has condemned Government and the Ministry of Justice inaction over the crisis in the prison system as he opened the Prison Officers Association Conference in Eastbourne today.  

“Urgent action is required to support Prison Officers who have an increased vulnerability to Post Traumatic Stress” a Union Leader has said, following the publication of a new report. 

Prison Officers from across the UK will attend one of the most important Conferences for the Union in decades.