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Issue No. 70 Spring 2014
It is thirty four years this year since Arthur Williamson produced the first copy of this the Retired Prison Governors Newsletter and what a thirty four years it has been for the Prison Service.
It has without a shadow of doubt undergone more operational changes than at any other time in history.
Going back to the 1980s we recall the introduction of Fresh Start, which saw the reduction of overtime for the uniform grades, selling off of quarters, abolition of the chief officer grade along with the governor grades being numbered 1 to 5. We further saw the change from four Regional Directors to the 15 Area Managers.
It is thirty four years this year since Arthur Williamson produced the first copy of this the Retired Prison Governors Newsletter and what a thirty four years it has been for the Prison Service.
It has without a shadow of doubt undergone more operational changes than at any other time in history.
Going back to the 1980s we recall the introduction of Fresh Start, which saw the reduction of overtime for the uniform grades, selling off of quarters, abolition of the chief officer grade along with the governor grades being numbered 1 to 5. We further saw the change from four Regional Directors to the 15 Area Managers.
1987 saw the first and only aircraft assisted escape from a British prison, which amongst other things resulted in ballcocks being strung on wires across dispersal prison exercise yards. We saw governors having the ability to take remission from prisoners on adjudication removed from the list of awards, and the Health Care being taken over by the NHS, but perhaps the greatest change and the one with the most impact was the privatisation of some new establishments, along with market testing of others. We have witnessed the management of Crown Courts and escort duties being transferred to the private sector. We have further been witness to the closure of numerous prisons as well as the closure of the colleges at Love Lane, Aberford Road and Leyhill. Market testing became all too familiar, as did having to enter into competition with the private sector in a bid to operate newly-opened prisons. Further on in this edition of the Newsletter readers will discover what other steps are being taken to put out to tender and privatise even more of the prison estate and its services.
Private Finance Initiative has not been the cure-all that it was said to become: indeed I believe that if the clock were to be turned back it’s doubtful if it would have been introduced on the scale which it has been. That applies not only to the Prison Service but also to some of the other public bodies which became the subject of PFI by various governments over the last three decades, and of course we have the latest charges brought by the MOJ against Serco and G4S for the overcharging of the management of prisoners on “tag”.
I leave you the readers to draw on your own thoughts and experiences to decide which changes have been beneficial and which have not.
Retired Activities
Articles published in the Newsletter over the past thirty-four years have made us aware of some of the truly amazing adventures in which we, the RPGA members, are involved. We have had the pleasure of reading about travels and adventures to some of the most remote parts of the world, strange hobbies, charity work, acting as professional advisors - the list goes on, and let’s hope our members continue to do so for a further thirty-four years and beyond.
Mick Roebuck
