[7500 RPM / Creative Commons]
BRITAIN can’t build its way out of the prisons crisis, Prison Officers Association chairman Mark Fairhurst argued today.
Mr Fairhurst issued the warning as Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced plans to build four new prisons – but admitted there still would not be enough places.
The union leader said: “We have warned successive governments over the last couple of decades that if they fail to invest in the prison service a tipping point will be reached.
MARK FAIRHURST highlights the main issues facing officers in a long neglected service, and raised by front-line delegates at POA conference last week, including understaffing, violence, bullying and the ongoing denial of workers’ right to strike
Working in a high-risk sector, prison officers’ calls for proper PPE must be heeded – and the POA will be fighting to ensure effective protection at work is delivered, writes MARK FAIRHURST
