You can’t operate a prison service on the cheap
Now long retired, I joined the prison service as an officer in 1976 when the prison population was between 30,000 and 40,000. Victorian radial prisons dominated because they were (and still are) the best designed, with a view of all landings and wings from one central point. The buzz phrase for prisons then was ‘control and discipline’. This view was regarded as obvious and supported by the majority of the public, and there was enough staff to ensure that happened. The government, though, did not like the power of the officers’ union, the Prison officers’ Association, and, in the late Eighties, radically changed working practices, increasing the derisory basic wage, but stopping paid overtime. This had the effect of reducing the number of staff on duty. To justify its actions, the government created a new buzz phrase — ‘Treat prisoners with humanity and train them to lead good and useful lives’ — pushing ‘control and discipline’ to one side. The irony that ‘humanity’ had been going on in spades since I joined and ‘training’ was generally impossible within a claustrophobic gang culture that can only be controlled by enough staff was not lost on me. The only people who truly understand what goes on in prisons are those who have worked with prisoners on prison landings for years. Politicians most certainly don’t. So it was no surprise that as our prison population rocketed (despite our ultra-liberal courts), costs began rising and new, though badly designed, prisons were built. Experience cannot be gained just with training, and when the private sector was introduced into running prisons, the new staff lacked experience. As profits demand staff levels are kept to a minimum, only time will tell whether running prisons with record numbers inside on the cheap is wise. I’m sure the vast majority of the public agree that it’s not.
John Bates, Widdrington, northumberland.