General Secretary

The POA has long warned, and has been on record stating, that the UK prison system is now in a state of permacrisis marking a significant failure of long-term policy, underinvestment, on short-term fixes that do little to solve structural issues.

POA General Secretary Steve Gillan is elected as the TUC President for 2025 - 2026

Steve Gillan has been chosen to lead the TUC for the next year. The first General Secretary of the POA to be chosen for this prestigious position, testament to the standing that the POA has within the Trade Union movement.

It has been a while since I last did an update. I recognise the National Chair Mark Fairhurst does a monthly update so there is little point in being repetitive but there are some important issues for me to report to you on.

Positivity was high among POA delegates in Eastbourne as they discussed topics around the theme of ‘Control not Chaos'

Watch POA General Secretary Steve Gillan present the Welfare Fund report to Conference 2025

Watch POA General Secretary, Steve Gillan present the Finance Officer's report to Conference 2025

Prison officers’ pay, retirement age and right to strike are among the issues your association will target this year, along with prison maintenance

POA General Secretary Steve Gillan calls on all MPs to stand up for working people by supporting John McDonnell’s amendments to the Workers Rights Bill

The membership will have received notification of the death, on Friday 27 September, of Deputy General Secretary Joe Simpson. This was extremely upsetting for his family and partner, but also for those POA members and employees who had known Joe for many years. Joe Simpson was more than just a Deputy General Secretary to me; he was a man whom I considered to be a long-time friend and I will miss him.