Founded 1980
Chair:
Secretary:
Treasurer:
Graham Smith
Jan Thompson
Graham Mumby-Croft
EDITORIAL OUR MAILING LIST
I am pleased to report that we now have (October 1986) 182 on our mailing list.
We have 3 additional readers from among those recently retired, namely John Lewis Dennis Vaughan (The Rt Reverend) Leslie Lloyd-Rees We have also got in touch with :- Les Welsford Ken Watson Mrs Linda Yates, widow of David Yates, has also joined our mailing list.
Can I remind all our readers that you are the best source of contact with any future potential readers.
I have a regular system of writing to all those whose retirement is notified to me.
I think we have now exhausted our hunt through Service channels for Retired Governors.
over to you.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NEWSLETTER
So it's Contributions continue to come in from our readership and for these I am extremely grateful.
If anyone feels the urge to write about a subject I would be delighted to hear from them.
One form of contribution that would be helpful would be if anyone is willing to come to Manchester Prison, two or three times a year, to act as Despatch Officer for the Newsletters.
Ted Cowper-Johnson has kindly dealt with the despatch of the Newsletter over the last year.
Do we have a volunteer living somewhere around the Manchester area? DEATH OF RETIRED GOVERNORS I regret to have to report the deaths of the following retired Governors.
Miss Barbara Stevens Jack Beaumont Eric Cooper Joe Swainston May they rest in peace.
PRISON SERVICE JOURNAL
In past editions of the Newsletter we have reminded our readership of the existence of the Prison Service Journal.
The Journal has now got a new Editor, Mike Jenkins.
Mike has kindly supplied order forms for circulation with this number of the Retired Governors' Newsletter.
Anyone interested in taking the Prison Service Journal should use the order form provided.
SERVICE NEWS
I reported in the last edition briefly on the problems we experienced in the Service in April and early May 1986.
A full enquiry into those events is being conducted by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons.
Many serving colleagues had the worst experiences of their service over that traumatic week or so.
It was particularly sad that in a number of establishments staff failed to respond to the requirement to attend for duty in an emergency. All too often Senior Management (Governor grade and Chief Officers) were left in extremely exposed positions. Many of us believe that we were extraordinarily fortunate to come out of the whole episode without dead prisoners or dead staff.
RECENT MOVES Among recent moves of Governors have been the following:
M Jenkins
Long Lartin to DRD at Midland Region
B O'Friel
Midland Region to Manchester
T Abbott
To Onley YCC as Governor
B V Smith
To govern the new prison at Full Sutton
C Callaghan
Buckley Hall DC to Deputy Governor of Risley
Tony Smith
Deputy Governor Risley to P4
David Roberts
MRO to Full Sutton on promotion to Governor III
C Griffiths
Deputy Governor Bedford to Governor Buckley Hall
A Foy
To Feltham as Governor III I Boon
Governor II MRO to PD Headquarters J Whetton
Governor IV Hollesley Bay Colony to Maidstone as GIII
M Manning
Governor III Maidstone to Aldington
G Gibson
To East Sutton Park as Governor III
OPENING Of NEW PRISON SERVICE COLLEGE AT NEWBOLD REVEL
I was fortunate enough to be invited to be present at the Official Opening of Newbold Revel on Wednesday, 10 September, It was a pleasant day when some 500 staff and spouses assembled at Newbold Revel for the Official Opening of the new Prison Service College by the Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd.
The day opened with an official opening of the Prison Service museum, in future to be known as the Heywood Collection. It was particularly pleasant to see Colonel Jim's hard work honoured in this way. The actual museum was set up in part of the teacher training college library and the display was absolutely first class.
The day continued with the official opening of the College with the usual speeches. This took place in the Training College theatre, which has seating for around 400 people. This was followed by a tree planting ceremony and then lunch in the College dining hall and a specially erected marquee.
During lunch the Dartmoor Staff Band played appropriate music. I gather this was their first significant public display. It was certainly an interesting innovation seeing a Prison Staff Band on such an occasion. (older readers do write and let me know if this is not the first occasion) After lunch there was a Service of Dedication at the College's chapel.
The College had previously been a Roman Catholic Teacher Training College. When it closed in 1978 the Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham, Bishop McCartney, officiated at the last Service. It was particularly pleasant for him, in accompaniment with the Anglican Bishop of Coventry and a Senior Representative of the Free Churches, to consecrate the chapel as an ecumenical chapel for use by the Prison Service. Indeed the presence of the Clergy from a number of Christian Denominations in such a joint service was a most encouraging end to the day's affairs.
As you would expect, displays were put on by the Prison Dog Service and displays of prison work and education were also available. Some of you may have seen the television clip of the opening, which was carried by the Midland Regional television channels.
I knew Newbold Revel when it was a Teacher Training College as my wife was a former student there. I believe that the Prison Service has acquired a remarkably valuable asset. On the one hand, following the renovation and upgrading, we have accommodation for around 200 people so that the new college can be used for both initial Officer training and for all sorts of conferences. No doubt in the future we will see Newbold Revel used more for advanced training than Wakefield, Perhaps the most important thing is that the Prison Service now has a prestigious training centre which bears reasonable comparison with the Police College in Bramshill. The setting is magnificent and its location is very good, being almost in the centre of the country. Communications are excellent along the motorway network and it is handy for the main line station~ of both Coventry and Rugby, I believe it will make a great deal of difference to the Prison Service's self-image as people utilise it and are able to take advantage of its facilities. From time to time the Prisons Board meet there and the Regional Directors hold their meeting with the Deputy Director General at the College on occasions.
FRESH START
Some of you may have heard of the initiative known as Fresh Start, particularly as it had some publicity in the National Press. Fresh Start is the name given to a series of initiatives which will make the most radical changes to staff conditions over the last few decades.
Broadly there are three proposals.
First the existing complex shift arrangements will be swept away and a much more flexible system introduced. It will be based on the concept of group working
i.e a number' of staff will be allocated to a particular job whether it be running a wing, security area or the external commitment, and they will be expected to cover that duty for a substantial period of time from within the group.
The second element of Fresh Start is that pay structures for the uniform grades will be completely changed. Instead of being overtime driven as you will all recall they are at present, staff will be paid a quite high gross salary which would include all present allowances and premiums. It will also include an element for what is described as "contracted hours". These might amount to another 8 to 10 hours a week.
In a word there will be guaranteed systems of payment.
The third element is a review of management structures that would draw together the present Assistant Governor and Governor IV grades with the two grades of Chief Officers.
This would produce a united Service from Governor I down to basic grade Officer.
There are also proposals that after this first move towards unification steps might be taken to bring in the Administration Staff.
At the time of writing (October •86) the details of the package are far from finalised.
The aim seems to be to start implementation from April 1987.
We will report progress in due course.
THE REPRESENTATION OF GOVERNOR GRADES
Many of my readers will know that there have been times when the Governors' Branch (the representation of organisation for Prison Governors) has had an uneasy relationship with the Society of Civil and Public Servants.
The link with the Society goes back to about 1950 when the Superior Officers' Representative Board was disbanded. The tensions between the Branch and the Society have grown particularly acute during 1986 and the future of the Branch as part of the Society is very much becoming an open question.
In addition to this there are some complicated questions about who will represent the new grades formed by the implementation Fresh Start. Again we will keep you posted of development.
During the next few months the Governors' Branch Secretary, Sid Powell, will be joining the ranks of retired Governors. He will be a great loss for the Branch but we hope that Sid will persuaded to contribute to the Newsletter from time to time.
JON HAEREM
Some of you may have seen an obituary in The Times recently for a Mr Jon Haerem. He died on 18 June at the age of 66, having apparently spent a great deal of time teaching drama at Wormwood Scrubs. Credit was given in the obituary to Gilbert Hair as being the person who asked Haerem to form a drama group in the prison.
EAVES HALL - THE COUNTRY CLUB Of THE CIVIL SERVICE MOTORING ASSOCIATION
I have no intention of doing commercials in the Retired Governors' Newsletter but, at the same time, I believe good ideas should be shared.
I am a regular user of the CSMA Country Club at Eaves Hall. I would strongly recommend it to retired members. Both the accommodation and the food are excellent and the rates are extremely reasonable. I know a number of retired members do use it but for those of you who do not know it, it is situated in North East Lancashire about 3 miles from Clitheroe. It is a good base for touring all around the district. The club is a converted country house that has previously seen service as a hotel. In addition to a wide range of bedroom accommodation it has good public rooms, including a bar, billiard room, television room and several good areas for just sitting and chatting.
Information about Eaves Hall can be obtained by writing to:-
F B O'Friel Editor.
Issue No. 14 Autumn 1986
Brendan O'Friel
