APPENDIX 4
Memorandum submitted by the Prison Officers
Association Northern Ireland
Thank you for inviting me, on behalf of the
Prison Officers' Association (NI), to communicate our views to
the Committee in relation to this inquiry. Before we deal with
the issue of separation, we believe it would be useful to the
Committee to explain the history and events which led to the present
situation.
As a result of the signing of the Good Friday
Agreement, paramilitary prisoners were released from Prison early
and the Maze Prison closed in September 2000 with approximately
1,100 staff leaving the Service. As a result of the closure of
the Maze, the management of the Northern Ireland Prison Service
decided that it would need 1,697 staff to run the remaining Prison
estate which included the Prisoner Escort Group. All staff were
encouraged to attend seminars called "Future Positive"
at the Prison Service College and the emphasis was on the new
Prison Service which we would be running in the future, with no
paramilitary influence and management insisted that the Northern
Ireland Prison Service was now a normal Prison Service, similar
to Prisons throughout the UK. Management's efforts since then
have been directed towards reducing staffing levels and, at the
time of writing, we are 60 staff below the complement which was
set following the closure of the Maze Prison, despite the fact
that the prisoner population has increased by 13%.
The Prison Officers' Association (POA) made
many representations to Prison Service Headquarters over this
period and stressed that their analysis of the situation was wrong
ie there was still evidence that ex- paramilitary prisoners who
had been returned to Prison for new crimes which they had committed
and new prisoners with paramilitary affiliations who had been
committed to Prison were actually recruiting within the Prisons,
particularly at HMP Maghaberry, and they were responsible for
many of the acts of in-discipline which had occurred. The POA
also pointed out to management that the reasons for these acts
of in-discipline were leading up to a joint effort by the paramilitaries
to push for segregation at the appropriate time. Management dismissed
our views and denied that there was any paramilitary influence
within the Prison system, despite the fact that attacks were taking
place on Prison Officers' homes on a regular basis. Since the
signing of the Good Friday Agreement and the release of paramilitary
prisoners, attacks have continued on the homes of Prison Officers.
You will be well aware of the collapse of the Northern Ireland
Assembly at Stormont because of the activities of paramilitaries
gathering information. As a result of this action the Police Service
of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has stated that information on 1,426
Prison Officers was in the hands of a paramilitary organisation.
As a result of this security leak, 448 Prison Officers moved home,
551 Officers had security measures installed in their homes under
the Key Persons Protection Scheme (KPPS), and 313 staff have availed
themselves of the Prison Service Protection Scheme (PSPS) which
is operated by the Northern Ireland Prison Service. We have discovered
that the security measures installed are totally inadequate to
protect our members. The Northern Ireland Office, in consultation
with PSNI, restricted the budget for these security measures to
£20,000 (including VAT) per Officer's home. In effect, only
approximately £17,222 is actually spent on staff's homes
because the VAT is recovered by the government. We are aware that
other members of the security services in a similar situation
as Prison Officers had £50,000 spent on their homes under
KPPS.
Owing to staff shortages at HMP Maghaberry,
the management there decided that they would double up prisoners
in Roe and Bush Houses. The local POA Committee objected to this
decision as they believed it would allow these paramilitary prisoners
to gain control of the wings and, furthermore, they pointed out
that these prisoners would refuse to double up and this would
lead to protests by them. However, if management insisted on carrying
on with their decision, then to prevent paramilitaries gaining
control through lack of supervision there should be and increase
of staffing levels on these wings by one. Local management refused
this request by the local POA Committee and passed the dispute
to senior management at Prison Service headquarters. Myself, along
with the local POA Committee, met with the Deputy Director of
Prison Operations from Prison Service headquarters, and we put
suggestions to him as to how the overflow of prisoners could be
accommodated without doubling up at Roe and Bush Houses. We even
identified how we could get the staff to manage them without any
additional cost to the tax payer. All our suggestions were refused.
The dispute was then passed to the Director of Finance and Personnel
at Prison Service headquarters. Again, myself and the local POA
Committee put new proposals as to how this could be managed. Again,
the proposals were rejected and the Director of Finance and Personnel
said that she fully supported the Governor's decision to double
up prisoners in Roe and Bush Houses. We reiterated our view that
to follow this policy would lead to protests by these prisoners.
Management refused to listen and decided to go ahead with the
decision to double up paramilitary prisoners in Roe and Bush Houses.
On 21 June 2003 one prisoner gained access to the roof of Roe
House and protested against the decision of management to double
them up. This single protesting prisoner eventually came down
off the roof. Management introduced doubling up on 2 June 2003
and the prisoners started to protest. Eight prisoners gained access
the roofs of Roe and Bush Houses on 27 June 2003, and four prisoners
gained access to the roofs of Roe and Bush Houses on 7 August
2003. (It is interesting to note that these protesting prisoners
contained prisoners who had no paramilitary affiliations.)
The "dirty protest" started on 30
June 2003 with prisoners in Bann and Bush Houses, followed by
prisoners in Roe House on 30 July 2003. During these roof-top
protests and "dirty protests", attacks of Prison Officers'
homes continued. Protestors supporting the republican inmates'
campaign for segregation gained access to the Northern Ireland
Office on 2 July 2003 and made their way to Room 617 on the sixth
floor of Dundonald House. This room holds all the personnel information
on Prison staff. They attempted to seize information from the
desks of staff who were working on personnel files of Officers.
Fortunately, the staff in Room 617 managed to secure the files
which they were working on and locked the filing cabinets. Only
for the prompt action of these staff the personal details of staff
would have been compromised again. The POA commends the actions
of these staff as they prevented another disaster in relation
to private information on Prison Officers falling into the hands
of a paramilitary faction. This group of protestors remained in
Room 617 for approximately 30 to 45 minutes and no attempt was
made to remove them. In fact, they were allowed to leave the building
without being searched by the PSNI! During the whole incident,
the PSNI remained outside the main building. After the protestors
left, it was discovered that they had removed a file marked "dirty
protest", and this file was later shown on local TV. This
file contained correspondence between the POA Area Chairman and
Prison Service headquarters. We have asked for an explanation
from management as to why the protestors were not arrested, why
they were not searched, why has no one been charged with entering
Room 617, why has no one been charged with criminal damage to
the front doors, and why did senior management take no action
when they were warned by the Security Department at Maghaberry
Prison that protestors were on their way to Prison Service headquarters?
This warning was passed on approximately two hours before the
protestors arrived. To date, we have received no answer to our
questions.
The POA (NI) is concerned that, once again,
our members are being used as "pawns" in a political
game which is taking place and we can only draw our own conclusions
because we are kept in the dark. Paramilitary factions are once
again being given centre stage in the penal system at the expense
of our members. We have called for an inquiry to be held into
how our names and addresses were allowed to fall into the hands
of a terrorist organisation but our request has been ignored.
We have called for an inquiry into why management, following the
leaking of this information, did not take steps to secure all
information in relation to Prison Officers. If this had taken
place, the take over in Room 617 would never have happened. Again,
we have been ignored. It is our view that management cannot afford
to have these inquiries as it would show that they failed as a
management team in their responsibilities.
In regard to the Steele report, we would like
to place on record our appreciation for the professional way which
the Review team carried out their function. Everyone who had an
interest in this matter had the opportunity to put their views
and for that we are grateful.
The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee wishes
to look at the reasons behind the change in policy and the factors
which were taken into account. As the Trade Union which represents
Prison Officers, we have not been made aware of the reasons behind
the change in policy, other than what the Secretary of State has
said—"This announcement should be seen in the context
of the safety of staff and prisoners being of paramount importance
to myself, Prison Service management and the government."
The Director General of the Northern Ireland Prison Service issued
a message to staff on 8 September 2003, issue 10/03, stating "As
the Secretary of State has said, this is not a comment on the
work we have been doing in recent years and it definitely does
not represent failure on behalf of the Prison Service. It acknowledges
that there are those in society who are living in the past. They
will not be persuaded to act democratically and they now have
the numbers, opportunity and determination to undermine the safe
management of prisoners and, through that any political agreement
that does not suit their purposes."
When you consider these two statements, it appears
that there is a difference of emphasis upon the reason for the
change and the factors taken into account behind the policy of
moving from a totally integrated Prison system for prisoners to
a Prison system which includes a separated system.
In relation to the practical consequences of
separation for the management of the Northern Ireland Prison Service,
the decision to separate these prisoners has been made by the
Secretary of State, therefore it is the duty of Prison Officers
to carry out his decision. However, the POA is concerned about
the consequences of this decision in respect of the safety of
our own members and their families. The Secretary of State said
in his message to staff on 8 September 2003, issue 9/03—"I
want you to know that I am aware of the potential difficulties,
both short and long term, associated with this development. Both
the Prisons Minister, Jane Kennedy, and myself, are committed
to supporting the Service through this difficult time in any appropriate
and practical way we can." This statement should reassure
Prison Officers, but unfortunately they do not believe it as our
experience over the 35 years of our troubled history has shown
that politicians pay little regard to the concerns of Prison Officers
and their families. We have been given a difficult task to do
within the penal system and we must also face dangers to our families
and ourselves whilst living in the community. Since the announcement
by the Secretary of State, paramilitary factions have continued
to attack Prison Officers' houses and this is despite the fact
that they have been given separation. What message does that convey
for the future? Since the announcement by the Secretary of State,
management has put in a tremendous effort in ensuring that prisoners
are separated as quickly as possible, but no effort has been made
by management or the Secretary of State to address the genuine
concerns of Prison Officers and their families abut the lack of
security at their homes. The inability of government to provide
proper security to those members of the Prison Service who feel
vulnerable in their homes because of the security leak, the break-in
at Room 617 and now the decision to grant paramilitary prisoners
separation, is unacceptable to the POA. Twenty nine Prison staff
have lost their lives standing up to terrorism and it is our view
that some of these killings could have been prevented had Prison
Officers been given proper security measures. We are determined
that no more Prison Officers will lose their lives because we
have to implement political decisions without the proper protection
which some staff feel that they need. The Steele report made reference
to the morale of staff, penny pinching on security measures, and
the fact that the security measures are being implemented too
slowly. The combination of these factors and the reduction of
staffing levels by 60 has lead to low morale among staff which
has culminated in all establishments passing a vote of no confidence
in the management of the Northern Ireland Prison Service. Management's
action since the announcement of separation has only reinforced
this opinion. Management have already recognised the leaders of
these paramilitary factions within the Prison and they have decided
to reduce the number of Prison Officers they are going to recruit
by redefining Prison Officer's jobs which can be done by people
other than Prison Officers. This is despite the fact that management
and the POA had already done this in an exercise some years ago
and management at that time agreed that we could reduce no further
Prison Officer posts as it would undermine the operational stability
of the Prison Service.
Considering the environment which the Northern
Ireland Prison Service operated in, at that time we redefined
104 Prison Officer posts and replaced them with 104 Civil Servant
clerks and we recruited 170 Prison Auxilliaries. Since then the
Civil Servant input has increased to 157 and we further recruited
100 Prison Auxilliaries making a total of 270 Auxilliaries. Two
years ago, management and the POA agreed to regrade these 270
Auxilliaries to Prison Officers as management and the POA both
felt that because Auxilliaries were restricted in the type of
work which they could do it would be a better use of resources
if they could carry out all the duties of a Prison Officer. Previously,
they were unable to work on their own with inmates. It is our
opinion that this decision to redefine Prison Officer jobs at
this stage, considering the crisis which the Prison Service is
in, shows that senior management is trying to run the Northern
Ireland Prison Service with no knowledge of the Northern Ireland
penal system as their judgements are based on experience gained
in Prisons throughout the UK and not based on experience gained
in Northern Ireland.
The decision to separate prisoners has serious
practical consequences for the management of the Northern Ireland
Prison Service unless all of the Steele report is taken into account,
not just the parts of his report which are politically beneficial
to move forward the Good Friday Agreement.
In conclusion, Prison Officers have shown over
the years that they are capable of responding to any challenge
demanded of them, and are committed to carrying out the Secretary
of State's decision, provided it can be demonstrated that they
have the support, protection and resources to do the job. Furthermore,
the Secretary of State's decision can only be successful if the
workforce morale is high, the staff are shown leadership and they
have confidence in their superiors.
9 October 2003
|
