HIGH TURN OVER OF GOVERNORS AND RECORD SICKNESS LEVELS AMONGST PRISON OFFICERS

Figures released today by the Prison Reform Trust reveal that prisons are experiencing a high turnover of governors and record sickness levels amongst staff.

In the last five years 44 prisons have had four or more governors, or acting governors in charge. This is just under a third (32 per cent) of all establishments.

The breakdown from 15/01/1998 to 31/01/2003 is as follows:

Five or More Governors or Acting Governors
Aylesbury, Brockhill, Camphill, Coldingly, Full Sutton, Feltham, Lancaster, New Hall, Onley, Risley, Rochester, Wellingborough

Four Governors or Acting Governors
Albany, Birmingham, Brinsford, Bristol, Brixton, Bullwood Hall, Canterbury, Channings Wood, Chelmsford,  Dover, Deerbolt, Erlestoke, Gartree, Gloucester, Guys Marsh, Hindley, Hollesley Bay, Holloway, Holme House, Lincoln, Manchester, Parkhurst, Send, Shrewsbury, Stafford, Stanford Hill, Stoke Heath, Swansea, Thorn Cross, Wealstun, Werrington, Winchester.

In total there have been 162 new governors appointed. But of those 71 (44 per cent) have been in a particular post for less than 12 months. This includes 53 managers appointed to cover the governor in charge post on a temporary basis.

At the same time the Prison Service is faced with record sickness levels amongst prison officers. Last year the number of days lost per officer due to sickness was 17.2. This is a dramatic rise on the previous year when 13.9 days were lost and is significantly above the Prison Service target of nine days. The number of days lost per year due to sickness for police officers and probation officers is between 11 and 12.

The past year has seen the prison population reach record levels. It currently stands at
nearly 72,500. Overcrowding has put staff at all levels under immense pressure.
There is no sign that the numbers being sentenced to custody will fall. According to recently published Home Office projections the prison population could reach 110,000 before the end of the decade.

The director of the Prison Reform Trust, Juliet Lyon, said:

“If schools or hospitals were under such intolerable pressure, had such unstable, inconsistent leadership and such staggeringly high levels of staff sickness no one would put up with it.

Governing prisons with skill and integrity is a hugely challenging and important job and the Prison Reform Trust calls for improvements in governor’s recruitment, training and support, rewards and incentives and succession planning. Prisons stand or fall by the people who manage and work in them. We welcome the new director general, Phil Wheatley’s, commitment to make care for staff a priority.

Ever-changing governors, severe staff shortages and record levels of prison overcrowding is more like a recipe for disaster than a way of ensuring public safety.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1. Figures do not include prisons run by the private sector. Information on private sector prisons is considered to be ‘commercial in confidence’ and is not therefore available.

2. Figures include 53 governors who have been appointed on a temporary basis for more than one month.

3. The Prison Governors Association says it is best for governors to stay in post for three to five years. (PGA Spokesman David Robinson: 07711 396 705)

4. On 7 March 2003 the prison population in England and Wales stood at 72,476.  This is an increase of 2,511 in the last 12 months. In the past month the prison population has risen by more than one thousand. (The current maximum capacity is 75,536).

5. The UK now has the highest imprisonment rate in the European Union at 139 per 100,000.

6. The number of prisoners in England and Wales has increased by over 25,000 in the last ten years.  In 1993, the average prison population was 44,566.  When Labour came to Government in May 1997 the prison population was 60,131.  This continued to increase, and stood at 66,105 when David Blunkett became Home Secretary on 8 June 2001.

7. The number of women in prison has more than trebled in ten years. In 1993 the average female prison population was 1,560.  Five years ago in 1997 it stood at 2,680.  On 7 March, there were 4,377 women in prison.

8. Over the last year prison overcrowding has been at its highest recorded level. Between April and November 2002 there were 80 prisons out of the 138 in England and Wales which in terms of their average population were overcrowded. 

9. In 2002 there were 94 suicides in prisons in England and Wales. This is a rise of 29 per cent on the previous year’s total of 73. The dramatic rise in suicides is linked to overcrowding.

10. Recent Home Office projections predict a prison population of anything between 91,400 and 109,600 by 2009. This means the prison system will be under even more pressure, jeopardising the functioning of the entire criminal justice system.