MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice
Minister, speaking at the NAPO Annual Conference, will
deliver a speech on the Tory Government’s failure to get to grips
with the growing crisis across the UK prison estate and probation
services, and announce details of Labour’s review into the role
of private CRC’s.
On Labour’s review into probation, will say:
“Labour’s manifesto committed to reviewing the role of the
private Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs.) and today I
can confirm more details about this review.
“Labour will be looking at how and when it can bring probation
back under public control. This will be done in such a way that
it restores it to the high quality service it once was, helps to
keep the public safer by reducing re-offending and ends the
scandal of the Government rewarding failure by paying out
millions more to the shareholders of failing private
companies.
“If new contracts with the private probation companies are signed
by the Conservatives ahead of the next election, then Labour will
insist on break clauses so that these contracts can be reviewed
under a future Labour government.”
On approaching an emergency in prisons and probation
services, he will say:
“Our prisons and probation system have received vast amounts of
media coverage over the past year - and nearly all for the wrong
reasons.
“We have heard much of the crisis in probation and the prisons
crisis, but I believe that we are at a moment when the word
crisis is no longer enough. We have warned of a crisis for five
years. Crisis has become the new norm. Staff are just about
holding our services together. But they are expected to do crisis
management. And the situation is becoming unmanageable.
“The Government needs to recognise that, in whole swathes of our
prisons and probation services, the situation is approaching an
emergency.”
On pay, will say:
“The Conservative pay cap has caused serious damage to morale of
public sector workers. In office, Labour would ensure that
those probation officers still working in publicly run National
Probation Services are not facing further real term pay cuts but
are rewarded as valued members of a restored justice sector.”
On failed privatisation in
probation, he will say:
“It is immoral to be running our justice system for
profit. But morality aside, it doesn't work.
“Look at the problems we had with the G4S tagging scandal. It
beggars belief that the Government awarded a £25m contract to G4S
for the electronic tagging of offenders while a serious fraud
probe is still investigating its previous misconduct into tagging
contracts.
And regarding the failure of probation privatisation we have
damning verdicts coming from the Chief Inspectors of Probation
and Prison. This is on top of the head of Her Majesty's
Prison and Probation service this week also acknowledging
failures.
“Ahead of the privatisation the Government was warned that this
would be the case. We warned them. You warned them. Other experts
warned them. But the Conservatives bulldozed changes to the
probation service through despite knowing that they had not been
tested and were founded on a weak evidence base.”
will say that the Government
should stop rewarding failure:
“The costly failures of the Conservative’s privatisation of our
justice system are clear for all to see.
“The public is paying more for a probation service which is
leaving the public less safe as reoffending levels rise and
prisoners are not given the crucial support, such as training and
housing, on release to rebuild their lives.
“The government needs to stop rewarding failure in the probation
service and guarantee that no more new money will go to these
private Community Rehabilitation Companies until they can show
that they are fit for purpose and make a real difference to
keeping our communities safer.”
