News Room

The renewal of the trade union movement must be grounded in education if the lives of workers are to be improved, says Henry Fowler

The Leader of the Union representing the UK's 35,000 Prison Officers has called for "urgent action and investment" to address the crisis in the UK's Prisons and stem the rising tide of violence faced by his members.

Please bring the contents of this circular to the attention of all POA members.

Annual Conference delegates endorsed Conference Paper 3. Annual Conference Motion 38/2022 set out a finance strategy over a three-year period finishing in 2025.

The Rules and Constitution are clear that under Rule 5, we will have a retired members section and that qualification for retired membership is having been a full member until ceasing qualification for full membership under Rule 4.1.

Please find attached NEC minutes for the 10th June 2026 for your information.

We will hold our Annual Conference to deal wholly with Scottish issues from the 28th of October to the 29th of October 2026, with the training day being held on Friday, 30th October 2026.

POA have been looking into the above and have identified that there has been a discernible shift in practice with HMPPS more frequently pursuing internal investigations in parallel with ongoing police enquiries.

The POA have been asked to bring to the attention of any members who have previously served in the Armed Forces that an important deadline is approaching in relation to military hearing loss and tinnitus compensation claims.

On 22nd June 2026 HMPPS will launch its Wellbeing Survey, and it will remain open for three weeks. The survey will explore issues such as Health, Security, Environment, Relationships, Purpose, and Support Services.