General Secretary

The Employment Rights Act, which received Royal Assent in 2025, was one of the headline policies of the incoming Labour government.

In 2025, the POA achieved several important advances, reflecting its growing influence and our capacity to secure real improvements for our members in the workforce, on the front line. 

The POA has long warned, and has been on record stating, that the UK prison system is now in a state of permacrisis marking a significant failure of long-term policy, underinvestment, on short-term fixes that do little to solve structural issues.

POA General Secretary Steve Gillan is elected as the TUC President for 2025 - 2026

Steve Gillan has been chosen to lead the TUC for the next year. The first General Secretary of the POA to be chosen for this prestigious position, testament to the standing that the POA has within the Trade Union movement.

It has been a while since I last did an update. I recognise the National Chair Mark Fairhurst does a monthly update so there is little point in being repetitive but there are some important issues for me to report to you on.

Positivity was high among POA delegates in Eastbourne as they discussed topics around the theme of ‘Control not Chaos'

Watch POA General Secretary Steve Gillan present the Welfare Fund report to Conference 2025

Watch POA General Secretary, Steve Gillan present the Finance Officer's report to Conference 2025

Prison officers’ pay, retirement age and right to strike are among the issues your association will target this year, along with prison maintenance