We chatted to Colin Moses, National Chairman of the Prison Officers Association (POA) at the anti-budget cuts rally in Newport last week.
The POA has over 36,000 members and Colin told us that over one thousand people are directly involved with the running of the prisons on the Isle of Wight.
“£5m cuts over 4 years”
He revealed to VentnorBlog that he thought that £5 million will be cut from Isle of Wight prisons budget over the next four years.
He fears for the impact that this would have on the Island as a whole, “It will put all of these prisons in danger,” he told VB.
“These prisons on the Isle of Wight contain some very dangerous people. We need the ability to contain them – and if we need to do what Ken Clark is asking for – (and provide) a rehabilitation revolution. You can’t do that with the level of cuts that have been envisaged.”
Unstable prisons “will make the community unstable”
“If these cuts go ahead, these three prisons will be dangerous. They will be unstable and if you have unstable prisons in a community such as this, they will make the community unstable.”
When we asked why the trouble wouldn’t be contained within the prison’s walls, he replied that as people through-out the Island work at the prison, disturbances that might occur inside the prison, would affect those working inside the prisons and they would take those out with them to the wider community of the Island.
“I believe that the instability will reflect on the very safety of this Island.”
“Root and Branch review of these prisons” needed
“What we want to see if a Root and Branch review of these prisons, where we look at how we’re using the money, that we’re not using it on bureaucracy, that we’re not using it on consultants, that we’re not using it on IT systems that fail. Let’s put the investment in what people keep saying what they want – front-line.
“Is this just an exercise of privatisation, where prisons are there for profit and where we reduce the salaries of people, where we reduce the pensions of people? – for what? To make them safer? No. Just to run them cheaper.”
Ministry of Justice: “No decisions have been made”
We contacted the Ministry of Justice for a comment on the claims of Colin Moses, as the MoJ oversee the Island’s prisons. They told VB …
“The Ministry of Justice has submitted proposals for savings to HM Treasury. Like other Departments we were asked to plan for savings of 25% and 40% as part of the Coalition Government’s Deficit Reduction Plan.
“We are discussing options with the Treasury and will not provide a running commentary on the process. No decisions have been made. The outcome of the Spending Review will be announced on 20 October.”
Audio of Colin Moses interview
Have a listen for yourself …
[audio:http://otw-audio.s3.amazonaws.com/colin-moses-chair-poa-iw-prison-cuts-sep.mp3]
