Doug Beattie MC, Ulster Unionist Assembly candidate for Upper Bann, has again highlighted the need for a resolution to the prison officers’ pay dispute.

Speaking following the announcement that prison officers in London and south-east England are to get pay rises to boost staffing levels, Doug Beattie MC said:

“Yesterday it was announced that thousands of prison officers in 31 jails in London and south-east England are to get pay rises of up to £5,000 to boost staffing levels. Ministers have said they wanted to attract the ‘best talent’ after concerns jails are understaffed and in the wake of strike action and rising prison violence in recent months.

“However, the Prison Officers Association dismissed the initiative, describing it as ‘the latest attempt at placing a plaster over a gaping wound’ and also said that “This decision will not solve the recruitment and retention issue, nor bring about operational stability in a prison system that is in meltdown.’

“Clearly the system in GB is suffering the same stresses and strains as the one in Northern Ireland. Last Autumn I highlighted the crisis that had developed in Northern Ireland’s prisons, which saw local prison officers balloted on Industrial action, up to and including strike action, due to anger at how the staff had been treated and low morale.

“Terms and conditions that were first agreed in 2014 as part of the ‘Staff Deployment Agreement’ were not implemented and inadequate staffing levels inside prisons were contributing to the already unacceptably high levels of stress being placed on officers. Officers were extremely frustrated at the lack of support and understanding which they have been receiving from the powers that be.

“If money has been found to recruit more officers in the south-east of England then many officers in Northern Ireland will be wondering why they are not being rewarded in a similar manner, given that officers here face death threats and have to operate a separated regime, unlike their counterparts in Great Britain.”