THANKS TO YOU ALL

I have always thought that leading the POA as your National Chair has been the honour of my life. I know I am in such a privileged position and would never take this role for granted. That is why I am so humbled, grateful, and overwhelmed with emotion and pride, that I am taking this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your continued support in electing me for a historic third term in office. To be re-elected unopposed was extremely humbling, but I am happy to accept the faith you have put in me.

I will not let you down and will continue to press the issues that mean so much to you. Lowering your retirement age and increasing your pay are fundamental to the goals I seek to achieve, but your safety at work is paramount and I stand by my mantra that I keep on repeating:

“In your workplaces, if it is not safe to do, then do not do it.”

I would also like to say congratulations to Dave Ferry of Frankland and Roger Moran of Liverpool on their election to the NEC. They are two capable officials with whom I am looking forward to working. The election saw a very strong field of candidates and I can assure everybody that the future of the POA is definitely positive.

The past few months have seen some major developments for the service mainly down to the persistence and robustness that the POA continues to display in the representation of its members.

The roll-out of stab-proof vests within high-risk areas of the high-security estate is a welcome development and one that, despite a difference of opinion among many members, is now a necessity.

The trial of tasers is long overdue and must be the first step towards specially trained local officers having the capability to deploy as part of a dedicated response team.

The roll-out of PAVA in the youth justice sector is a massive plus for our members who, up until now, have had zero protection.

It is a shame that the Howard League has chosen to legally challenge this and has launched a judicial review. Along with the Prison Reform Trust, it wishes to see PAVA removed from all our prisons. I find it incredulous that these people think that Prison Officers should accept the life-changing and sometimes career-ending injuries they receive just because someone who is neither brave enough nor capable of donning the King’s uniform and dealing with violent criminals thinks that we should now be constant human targets. Shame on them all.

If the issue of protections for staff has ever been highlighted so justifiably, then take a look at the new idea for the youth justice sector in the form of the ‘secure school’ at Medway, which has recently been decanted because of safety fears. The former prison was converted in a blaze of publicity into a modern facility to house juvenile offenders. Run by the charity Oasis, this initiative was called ‘Oasis Restore’ and aimed to shower the ‘children’ with love and affection in the hope they would change.

Some 12 months into the contract, and a plethora of serious staff assaults, concerted indiscipline, disorder and general cover-ups from senior leaders, the 10 prisoners have had to be transferred out of the establishment, with the charity blaming the MOJ for installing the wrong security doors that where quickly vandalised and kicked in whenever a ‘child’ had a meltdown.

If only our public sector youth justice prisons were afforded the same level of investment to modernise. There is no doubt in my mind whatever that, if our youth prisons only held 10 prisoners, with the staffing levels Oasis enjoyed, plus the modern environment and that level of resource, we would be a massive success.

I wonder when the work at Werrington, Feltham and Wetherby begins to modernise our units to only hold 10 at a time? These people just do not realise what they are dealing with and fail to acknowledge that we ask for PAVA because we need PAVA. Better to have and not need than need and not have.

As the year progresses, we are now formulating our written submissions to the Pay Review Body for the 2026/27 pay award. We are hopeful that the award will get back on track so we can all enjoy a pay rise in April every year instead of it being months overdue.

This year, we must be mindful that many of our newly recruited overseas staff now have the additional burden of trying to gain their right to work because of changes to immigration legislation. Unfortunately, Prison Officer pay comes nowhere near meeting the salary threshold of £41,700 per annum to have the right to work in the UK. It is typical of HMPPS to encourage recruitment from overseas then throw them to the wolves when the going gets tough. To advise their own staff to seek independent legal advice on this matter and then refuse to fund that legal advice is an absolute disgrace. There is, of course, a simple solution: raise the starting salary to meet the new threshold?

The fact remains that POA members in public sector prisons in England and Wales lag some 12.6% behind the rate of inflation for pay awards over the past 11 years. That pay differential must be restored if we are to compete with other employers and stop the exodus of staff within their first few years of joining.

We have much to achieve and will continue to fight as hard as we can for you all, no matter where you work: public, private, secure hospital or immigration centre. Together, we will march on and never back down. Let us hope the estate stabilises, violence reduces and all POA members can enjoy a decent standard of living without the need for excessive hours worked on overtime.

Until next time, look after each other, and solidarity to you all.

MARK FAIRHURST
NATIONAL CHAIR