Prison staff should not work in fear

PRISON officers who have taken part in protests about their working conditions have given harrowing accounts of the violence and intimidation they face.

Officers are banned from going on strike but many have reached the point where they feel compelled to stand up and speak out.

This is a timely reminder that behind prison walls are brave men and women who want to do the best job they can while providing for their families.

In recent years concern has escalated about the state of prisons in Wales and England. At a time of austerity, when ministers have to decide where to direct scarce public funds, it is always going to be hard for governors and representatives of prison officers to make the case for a more generous funding settlement.

When lifelong law-abiding citizens are waiting for medical treatments and parents are worried about schools, the plight of prisoners in their cells will never be the number-one public concern.

Nevertheless, we owe it to courageous prison officers to ensure that they can go to work without fear of attack. They should not have to work in an environment that is awash with drugs, where criminality is rife and conditions are insanitary.

These men and women should not have to labour in prisons in a state of perma-crisis. They deserve the satisfaction of knowing that their work will lead to a meaningful change in the lives of prisoners, thus building a safer society.

Just as a hospital would fail to tackle ill-health if patients were discharged still in the same sick state in which they arrived, we are wasting millions of pounds each year if illiterate prison inmates leave jail without basic skills, and if victims of abuse and addiction do not receive help.

It must be dispiriting for prison officers to see inmates released and then sent back to jail after once again falling foul of the law. Yes, the punishment of crime is an important element of the justice system, but we should not squander the opportunity to address the reasons why thousands of people lead destructive lives.

A failing prison system will do nothing to free communities from the fear of crime, and innocent families will suffer heartbreak if a loved one dies while in custody. The situation will get worse if dedicated prison workers quit their jobs.

A rich and supposedly compassionate country can do better.