PR 281: POA RESPONSE TO THE JUSTICE SECRETARY’S STATEMENT ON TACKLING THE PRISON OVERPOPULATION CRISIS

Commenting on the statement by the Justice Secretary on the Government’s response to the prison overcrowding crisis, 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. 

The construction of new prisons is one element of a whole package of measures that are required to address the prisons crisis. 

Whilst we support their construction, they must be public sector prisons, not run by the private sector. Building them will take time, and what we need is immediate action to alleviate immediate pressures.

The POA will closely examine any legislation that comes forward on recall measures and sentencing and we will be urging the Justice Secretary to listen to our members and take forward the steps we have suggested to end the overcrowding crisis.”

Mark Fairhurst Chair of the POA said:

“The Government would be better off spending billions of tax payers money on modernising the prison estate, funding an under-resourced probation service, providing more secure mental health beds and ensuring we have robust community sentences that the public have confidence in.

Building new prisons will take years and will not improve the current population crisis. If new prisons are to be built, I hope the Labour party's commitment to the biggest insourcing in a generation is applied and the new build prisons remain in the public sector.”

ENDS

 

 

For further information, contact:

POA Press Office                                                  020 8803 0255 Option 7