PR 283: PRISON OFFICERS ASSOCIATION RESPONDS TO INDEPENDENT SENTENCING REVIEW

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

“It is clear for all to see that the whole Criminal Justice System is in crisis. You cannot build your way out of a crisis. This report needs to be properly funded if the Justice System wants to divert people away from Prisons. The public need to have confidence that not jailing people for criminal activity but dealing with them in the community is justified. Victims of crime must always come first. Only time will tell if these reforms will work to ease overcrowding in our Prisons.” 

National Chair of the POA Mark Fairhurst added: 

“When the Government came into power we were locking up 87,483 prisoners and today that number exceeds 88,000, despite the early release scheme. These proposed reforms must have the confidence of the public and more importantly must satisfy the threshold of justice being served for victims of crime.

If adopted they will temporarily ease the pressure within our Prisons but will heap additional work on already depleted probation service. Without additional resources in our communities to address addictions and the root cause of offending behaviour I fear we will see a revolving door of criminality.”

 

ENDS 

 

For further information, contact:

POA Press Office                                                 020 8803 0255 Option 7