BREAK CRISIS INSIDE COUNTRY’S JAILS
Innocents guard the evil We pay price of savage cutback
INEXPERIENCED staff are being drafted in to deal with some of Britain’s most dangerous prisoners.
In England’s eight category A prisons – home to some of the nation’s most violent offenders – the proportion of officers with less than three years experience has rocketed.
The shocking figures compiled by Labour’s shadow justice team also show that violence against staff has risen in seven out of the eight.
At South London’s Belmarsh the percentage of officers with less than three years on the job was six per cent in 2010. The total now stands at 40 per cent.
At West Yorkshire’s Wakefield it is up from three per cent to 21 per cent. At HMP Frankland, Co Durham, 20 per cent of staff have less than three years experience. Frankland is where Millie Dowler’s killer Levi Bellfield is locked up alongside Soham murderer Ian Huntley, Rhys Jones’ killer Sean Mercer and the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe.
Imran Hussain MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Minister, said: “Highsecurity prisons hold the most violent prisoners in the country so it is great cause for alarm that the number of prison officers who are experienced in dealing with these inmates has fallen so sharply.
“Despite the Tories’ rhetoric about getting a grip on the emergency in our prisons, the reality is far different as the staff retention crisis continues to grow and inexperienced officers are put in charge of the most dangerous offenders.” WHEN the Tories came to office in 2010, close to 90 per cent of frontline prison officers had been in the role for three years or more.
It has since plummeted to 60 per cent, leaving our prisons much less safe.
Yet this is no freak phenomenon.
It is the direct result of Conservative cuts to prison budgets and the decision to slash thousands of prison officer numbers.
With that decision tens of thousands of years of valuable officer experience was lost forever.
Reckless
As a result, newer officers are left in charge of offenders without the support of more experienced colleagues who know the prison and its wings, know offenders and how best to deal with difficult situations.
In the end, these reckless cuts leave the public less safe as they contribute to prisons failing to do their job of rehabilitating prisoners.
Prison officers are dedicated public servants, but they do not turn up to work to be punched or spat at. They are three times more likely to be assaulted than when the Tories came to office.
The Government should set out a proper plan – working closely with prison officers – to tackle the exodus of experienced staff and help keep prisons and society
safe.