News Room

Please bring the contents of this circular to the attention of all POA members.

Please find attached NEC minutes for the 11^th and 12^th March 2025 for your information.

The Trade Union representing the UKs Prison Officers is calling on the Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood to publish a 2023 Cabinet Office assessment of Prison Maintenance Contracts. 

Cuts to the UK's prisons budget would have the effect of pouring petrol on an already blazing fire Union Leaders have warned. 

A new report has highlighted rising attacks on staff inside a Prison estate which is unsafe for use and bursting at the seams.

POAProtect offer travel insurance for members, but did you know this includes an award-winning medical cover with no upper age limit?

POA Circular 14/2025 explained to members that John McDonnell MP had submitted amendments to the Bill that would reinstate the basic human right of Prison Officers ability to withdraw their labour.

Please find attached NEC minutes for the 26^th February 2025 for your information.

It is with great sadness that I am writing to inform you of the passing of our Honorary Life Member, and former Assistant General Secretary late last night.

Mark Fairhurst Chair of the Prison Officers Association said: "The Justice System lurches from crisis to crisis. The prison estate cannot cope with the existing prison population and now the Government has announced they can cope with unpredicted rises in the prison population without explaining where all the additional staff will come from..."