Founded 1980
Chair:        
Secretary: 
Treasurer: 

Graham Smith
Jan Thompson
Graham Mumby-Croft


John Ramwell
GIVE US THE TOOLS AND WE CAN DO THE WORK - John Ramwell 

Watching Channel 4 News this evening has brought about this paper, which is about the comments made by Andrea Albutt, the president of the Prison Governors Association, who is angry. The former army nurse, who joined the prison service as a young hospital officer in 1990, announced last week that despair was “running through the veins” of her organisation. With the highest rates of self-harm, suicide, drug use and violence ever seen and the recent scathing prison inspection reports on HMPs Liverpool, Strangeways, Bedford and Nottingham, the prison system has arguably reached the lowest point in its history. 
The collapse of Carillion, the construction company responsible for prison maintenance contracts, has only added to its woes. “It’s a big deal,” says Albutt. “Governors have had to run prisons with not-fit-for purpose contracts which failed to deliver the promised service. These contracts have failed in their entirety, leaving accommodation and maintenance in a far worse state than when governors owned their own works departments.” I’m a retired Prison Governor who started my career at Grendon Psychiatric Prison as a farm hand way back in 1960. I was lucky. Lucky because I worked for a Service that was proud of what it did and how it did it. It’s all about LUCK. Or is it? No, it isn’t. It is just about anything, everything and nothing in particular but a range of issues. Let me enumerate them.:

  • 1. Resources
  • 2. Resources
  • 3. Resources 
  • 4. The recruitment of good staff. 
  • 5. Leadership of these staff by sound managers. 
  • 6. Which will lead to a pride that encourages good staff to apply. 
  • 7. Pride that comes with having a job that attracts respect. 

I can give you the recipe for success, but it does not need me or anyone else to describe what should make up this recipe as it’s common sense. I will tell you of the opportunities I had and how they contrast with today. 
  • 1. Less than 50% of those who applied to become a Prison Officer made it. It took 15 months before you were confirmed as having made the grade. A pal who joined at Oxford Prison with me was told he was unsuitable and had to leave having spent six months on the job. I felt this to be so unfair, but one word from me and I knew I’d be following him down the road. 
  • 2. We had achieved a job that was resourced. Well paid with a good pension, a job that brought with it a pride and respect. Respect for each other and for the people we cared for. 
  • 3. I made a life beyond the Service and met with a range of people from all walks of life who were keen to know what it was like to work in a prison or a Borstal once they discovered where I worked. I was always pleased (proud) to tell them that it was like working in the Nick that featured in ‘Porridge’ where sense of humour mixed with a strong sense of reality, of loyalty and a caring attitude both towards colleagues and inmates.
  • 4. Of course, the reality was somewhat different in that we had to deal with a vast range of individuals who had huge problems as well as the occasional colleague who’d somehow got through the selection process by mistake. How these four criteria compare with today 

1. Recruitment and retention of staff is a major factor. 

2. Pay and conditions are poor. 

3. Corruption amongst some staff means drugs and contraband are smuggled in on a regular basis. 

4. There is an emphasis on surviving a prison sentence. Rehabilitation has not taken a back seat. There are no seats left at the back if there are they’re struggling 

5. Society has changed; not that it has necessarily changed from good to bad. None the less, it’s changed. 

6. Drugs have infiltrated the landings, ably assisted by the prevalent gang culture, which, we’re informed has spilt out into the community and the families of prisoners as they are searched out and made to pay for drugs supposedly consumed within the prison. 

So the facts are basically irrefutable. We are short of cash, funding or resources. The reasons are many; some of which I’ve touched on here: some such as Covid and Brexit and the war in Ukraine and the Middle East are obvious enough: others less so. There is money slushing around elsewhere in our society. Many are wealthy enough to give to their favourite charities, (including £5million to buy a peerage) but there are many families as well as individuals who are, through absolutely no fault of their own, struggling to pay mortgages, rents, energy bills, weekly shop, the list goes on. Many are concerned about their future. Will they have a roof over their heads, will they be able to simply manage financially when it’s their turn to retire? Homelessness is a particularly serious issue from which there is rarely any escape from. I often wonder whether the social attitudes have changed for the better. I’m suggesting they clearly have but there are good reasons as well as some not so good why they have changed radically or far enough. It’s time to consider the reason why so many reoffend post prison. Again, the reason is a lack of resources. It’s been this way for ever. When I retired 27 yrs ago (yes, this is the case) I volunteered to assist with helping young offenders settle back into society. My wife and  i used to feel obliged to help out by buying some basics for them just to help them get by. On one occasion the conditions for an early release meant that one young man was not allowed to reside in his hometown nor to associate with his old friends. Truly a disaster and we watched him fail as he felt he’d no alternative but to return to prison. We seem to have gone from riches to rags. I remember being hauled over the coals for not spending my grants for medical expenses as the financial year was drawing to its close. It was made clear that I cannot have been doing my job as well as I should have if I had not spent the grants allocated. In fact, it was expected that I should be requesting additional supplementary funding in September. Then there is our NHS, including dental services which has collapsed for the same reason as the Prison service has, because they’re simply under resourced. I could rattle on but I’ll cease now as I understand that I’m preaching to the converted at least, and at best, not telling you what is not obvious. The best we can hope for in 2025 is that Donald Trump can come up with some alternatives!! But do not hold your breath.