Prisons 'full in 5 weeks' union boss hints at strikes if violence against staff continues

Britain’s prisons could be full within five weeks, a union boss has warned, as he hinted a strike ban could be breached if action is not taken to quell rising violence against staff.

Mark Fairhurst, chairman of the Prison Officers’ Association, said: “We currently have 1,400 spaces in the closed adult male

estate, but the courts are sending people to prison at the rate of 250 to 300 per week.”

Even taking into account a new scheme to release people 70 days early, he noted that many ex-offenders are being recalled to

England and Wales’s prisons – up to 100 a week in some areas.

On Friday, Ministry of Justice figures showed there were 88,914 prison spaces in England and Wales, mostly for men, with 87,177 of them filled.

It comes less than a fortnight after the National Police Chiefs’ Council withdrew an advisory to chief constables to delay “non-priority arrests” to stave off overcrowding.

On May 21, Mr Fairhurst told the association’s conference that the Prison Service is in crisis due to a perfect storm of problems.

He first claimed there were 9,204 attacks on prison staff in 2023 compared to 2,848 in 2010 – and stated the Government has

created only 5,000 of 20,000 new prison spaces promised by 2025.

As for staffing, he cautioned there are 23,640 operational prison officers, down from 24,831 in 2010 – while in the year to

end of June 2023, 5,000 new officers were recruited and some 4,400 left the service.

He also hinted that if violence against staff is not reduced and officers in youth custody are not given PAVA spray to protect themselves, the union may breach a High Court injunction banning members from urging staff to ignore a 30-year ban on strike action.

He said: "We have been awaiting a decision on having PAVA spray in the juvenile - our most violent - estate that has been 'imminnet' since last April when I wrote warning there will be a tragedy if they don't do something quickly.

"What happens if there is an announcement they are not going to issue PAVA spray?"

He said Everton fans had a song about a "really unjustified points deduction."

He said: "The POA song would go something like 'you can stick the court injunction up your' - conference, you full in the blanks, you get my drift."

And, if Labour wins the General Election and revokes the ban, he added: "My God, will I be inciting you when we get our right to strike back - and if you don't get a decent pay rise, I'll be balloting you to strike."

Mr Fairhurst also revealed relations with Charlie Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, have reached rock bottom with the union refusing to cooperate with him.

It is until he apologises for criticising male staff who twice stripped a female youth at Wetherby Young Offenders' Institution to stop her using clothes as ligatures and becomes more critical of Government policy, he said.

Mr Fairhurst said no female staff had been available due to earlier assaults on them, and the men had acted correctly to prevent a death.

He said: "Our engagement with him has finished until he issues an apology to Wetherby staff over those diabolical comments - but he won't and he won't criticise real culprits, the Government."

A spokeswoman for Mr Taylor said he would not comment in the election period.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said 6,000 new prison spaces had been created across two new jails, while other expansions

and a third prison by the end of 2025 will raise this to 10,000 spaces.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said 6,000 new prison spaces had been created across two new jails and other expansions and a third prison by the end of 2025 will raise this to 10,000 spaces.

He said: "Section 127 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 makes it unlawful to induce withdrawal of labour of a prison officer.

"PAVA is not currently available for use in young offender institutions. For future policy positions on the use of PAVA spray in young offenders institutions, please contact the relevant political parties.

A Conservative Party Spokesman said: “Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives have stuck to the plan to deliver a more secure future, carrying out record prison building and announcing plans to ban razor blades across the estate. We value the critical work that prison officers do, which is why we have hired 4,000 extra prison staff and met the prison officer pay board recommendations last year in full, increasing pay by seven per cent, helping ensure we have the staff to make our prisons as secure as possible.”

Shabana Mahmood, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, said: “The state of our prisons is a national scandal.

"After 14 years of Conservative neglect, our prisons are in crisis. They are overcrowded, unsafe, breeding grounds for crime.

“It’s no wonder that this is taking a toll on staff, but in the end we are all left less safe. Failing prisons lead only to more reoffending and crime.

“Labour will turn the page on the Tory chaos consuming the prison estate. We will unblock the building programme to increase capacity and we will reduce reoffending by addressing the root causes of crime.”