The Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary thanked prison
officers for their service and shared the department’s prison
reform plans.
I’m really sorry I can’t be with you all today, but I wanted to
record this message for your first in-person conference since the
start of the pandemic.
And in particular, I really wanted to take the opportunity to
thank all of you, every single one of you, for your incredible
hard work, your outstanding dedication during such a tough set of
times.
Prison officers, I know, may not always be in the public eye in
the same way that police officers, doctors and nurses are. But
I’ve got no doubt, and I’ve seen first-hand, that you’re at the
front line of our defences when it comes to protecting the public
and you do an outstanding, amazing job.
I’d like to see all of you at the front line get more recognition
for that incredible work you’ve done, both during the pandemic
and more generally.
Throughout COVID-19, you’ve done more than ever to demonstrate
why - in my view at least - you are the unsung heroes across our
justice system.
I’ve been hugely impressed by what I’ve seen in the nine prisons
I’ve visited so far since I became Justice Secretary.
At Category A prisons like HMP Franklin and Woodhill, I saw the
extraordinary security challenges that the governors, Darren
Finley and Nicola Marfleet, face in dealing with some of the most
serious offenders, including radicalised terrorists and dangerous
gangsters.
You guys and your teams, work incredibly hard in what is a very
precarious environment, to see the early signs of terrorist
risks, to nip them in the bud, to stop the spread of poisonous
ideologies, and ultimately help us protect the public.
Of course, in many of those other prisons where the focus is more
on rehabilitation, I’ve seen the vital role that governors and
staff play in getting prisoners off drugs, getting them skilled
up, and getting them into work.
From the marketing call centre that I saw at HMP High Down, to
HMP Ford, where prisoners get the chance to work as HGV drivers
when they’re on ROTL. And from HMP Hatfield’s farm shop and the
recycling centre, to the working farm and timber processing at
HMP Prescoed. From the barbers and bike repair shop at HMP Five
Wells, to the mechanics and the cleaning workshop at Wandsworth.
I’ve seen the great potential that we’ve got, and that you’re
grasping in prison, to use inmates’ time in a more constructive
way, to get them the skills, get them back into work, which is
ultimately the way we’ll get them back onto the straight and
narrow and reduce reoffending and protect communities around the
country.
And, you know, I’m really struck by the conversations that I’ve
had with offenders that I’ve met, who are able and willing to
take that opportunity to start to turn their lives around.
And I know it’s a long haul, and there’ll be ups and downs for
many offenders, but getting prisoners off drugs for good through
sustainable recovery, getting them the skills, the training, the
work experience they need to go straight, those are two of my
very top priorities.
And of course, they’re critical elements in helping those
offenders to turn their lives around, and that keeps our streets
safer with fewer victims. So the public really do owe you all a
debt of gratitude. And I want to say thank you for all that
amazing work that you do.
And of course, when I look forward at the agenda that we’ve got
ahead of us over the next year, that’s why we’re going to be
assessing offenders for any addiction they’ve got from the moment
they arrive, so that the treatment plans we put in place,
including expanded use of drug recovery wings, a greater focus on
abstinence, all of those things can be put in place straight away
and strengthen the rehabilitation work you’re doing.
And of course, we’re going to have a zero-tolerance approach to
drugs in prisons, clamping down on the illicit items being
smuggled in.
We’re enhancing our prison security with a lot of technology
that’s been funded by £100 million of new investment, including
the state-of-the-art X-ray scanners across the whole closed male
adult estate. I’ve seen them work first-hand and I’m convinced
that they will help reduce the violence and help keep prison
officers, as well as offenders, safer.
And, of course, we’ll continue to build on our partnership with
you at a national level, and between prison governors and local
branches of the POA, to create prisons that are better, safer,
and which, as I said, through all the work we’re doing, will help
drive down reoffending relentlessly.
I now want to pass over to our brilliant Prisons Minister, , to take you through some
of the detail of our strategy. But again, from the bottom of my
heart, through COVID and all the other work that we’re doing,
thank you so much for the outstanding job you’re doing, and I
look forward to seeing many more of you in the weeks and months
ahead.
