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| Ministry of Justice recruits redundant prison officers to ease jail crisis | Ministry of Justice recruits redundant prison officers to ease jail crisis |
| (about 14 hours later) | |
| The Ministry of Justice is trying to re-employ more than 2,000 prison officers who only recently took voluntary redundancy, in a move to avert a crisis triggered by the rising number of prisoners in Britain's jails. | The Ministry of Justice is trying to re-employ more than 2,000 prison officers who only recently took voluntary redundancy, in a move to avert a crisis triggered by the rising number of prisoners in Britain's jails. |
| Justice secretary Chris Grayling has been accused of presiding over a "dog's breakfast" after it emerged that he has been forced to offer new contracts to 2,066 selected officers who accepted voluntary redundancy packages during the past two years. | Justice secretary Chris Grayling has been accused of presiding over a "dog's breakfast" after it emerged that he has been forced to offer new contracts to 2,066 selected officers who accepted voluntary redundancy packages during the past two years. |
| Former staff have received a letter, seen by the Observer, explaining that Her Majesty's Prison Service Reserve has been set up to "respond to particular short-term pressures in prisons", which "may be due to unforeseen increases in prisoner numbers or as a response to the operational pressures which surface from time to time". | Former staff have received a letter, seen by the Observer, explaining that Her Majesty's Prison Service Reserve has been set up to "respond to particular short-term pressures in prisons", which "may be due to unforeseen increases in prisoner numbers or as a response to the operational pressures which surface from time to time". |
| The MoJ has spent £50m on redundancy payments at an average cost of £35,000 per officer. Bringing redundant staff back on nine-month fixed-term contracts represents a major embarrassment for the justice secretary. However, with the prison population now at 85,661, less than 1,000 off its maximum limit, there are fears some jails may have too few staff to cope with the number of inmates. | The MoJ has spent £50m on redundancy payments at an average cost of £35,000 per officer. Bringing redundant staff back on nine-month fixed-term contracts represents a major embarrassment for the justice secretary. However, with the prison population now at 85,661, less than 1,000 off its maximum limit, there are fears some jails may have too few staff to cope with the number of inmates. |
| "There is a full-blown crisis in the prisons system, self-inflicted by this government's policies," said shadow justice minister Sadiq Khan. "On their watch, they've closed down too many jails too quickly and let go thousands of experienced prison staff. As a result, overcrowding is getting worse, violence is on the rise and last year saw more deaths in custody than ever before. This is leading to prisoners festering away in their cells and on landings instead of doing the courses and training needed to rehabilitate them." | "There is a full-blown crisis in the prisons system, self-inflicted by this government's policies," said shadow justice minister Sadiq Khan. "On their watch, they've closed down too many jails too quickly and let go thousands of experienced prison staff. As a result, overcrowding is getting worse, violence is on the rise and last year saw more deaths in custody than ever before. This is leading to prisoners festering away in their cells and on landings instead of doing the courses and training needed to rehabilitate them." |
| The letters explain that "your previous governor has indicated that, in their opinion and based on your past service, we would be happy for you to join the Reserve". | The letters explain that "your previous governor has indicated that, in their opinion and based on your past service, we would be happy for you to join the Reserve". |
| But one prison governor insisted he had not been consulted about the scheme. "Ministers know this whole process is a dog's breakfast," Khan said. "It's an outrage that they're hiding behind misleading statements about the support of the bosses of former prison staff to cover up the mess. The government needs to be open about the true situation and take urgent steps to start addressing this mess." | But one prison governor insisted he had not been consulted about the scheme. "Ministers know this whole process is a dog's breakfast," Khan said. "It's an outrage that they're hiding behind misleading statements about the support of the bosses of former prison staff to cover up the mess. The government needs to be open about the true situation and take urgent steps to start addressing this mess." |
| Grayling said: "I told parliament a month ago about this. I am taking sensible steps to address what I believe is a weakness in our prison system: the fact that we have no access to the kind of temporary or agency staff routinely found in our health and education systems."I am therefore establishing a focused, flexible reserve capability among former staff to allow us to adapt to short-term changes of population by bringing reserve capacity into operation."We currently have some staff shortages in London, particularly because of the rapid improvement in the labour market, and this step will help us to cover any gaps." | |
| • This article was amended on Sunday 20 July 2014 to add a quote from the justice secretary, Chris Grayling. |