Conservatives attack prison reforms
A Conservative home affairs spokeswoman has said Government proposals to reform the prison service are about cutting costs rather than protecting the public.
She particularly attacked Government plans to merge the Prisons Service and the National Probation Service into the National Offenders Management Service (NOMS).
Speaking at the Prison Officers Association conference Cheryl Gillian said: “Sadly, NOMS seems to be to be more about cutting costs than protecting the public or rehabilitating offenders.”
“And sadly any of the real benefits that may well be derived from changes to the system are being masked by the shoddy way in which these changes are being forced through.”
“The driving force behind the creation of the National Offenders Management Service, is not concern for the welfare of prison officers, the public – or even prisoners themselves – but the need to produce sound bite politics for the next election and to save money and to save money quickly.”
Merging the prison and probation services could have been a huge step forward for the justice system, Ms Gillan said.
“But it has been handled badly and already it is creating insecurity and uncertainty and not a little upheaval and confusion, and the consequences of it going badly wrong are extremely immense.”
The other major prison officers association Napo is also opposed to the plans for NOMS. They claim that “the introduction of the purchaser/provider model and privatisation, which will fragment and undermine Probation Service work and threaten the jobs, pay and conditions of Napo members.”
Turning to the level of the prison population Ms Gillan said: “Prison is now facing serious problems. One of the major problems is prison overcrowding.”
Emphasising her belief that “a key component of prison is punishment” she said: “Let’s not gloss over the fact that prisoners are generally put in prison because they are a menace to society.”
“The response to prison overcrowding should not be fewer custodial sentences – as Ministers seem to suggest.”
“The Home Detention Curfew scheme, which has resulted in over 80,000 people being released early, is partly a response to overcrowding. As prisons get fuller, Ministers expand the scope of the scheme. Over 1100 have gone on to commit more crimes.” She claimed.
