Birmingham Prison set to be taken over by private firm
Brian Caton, the association’s General Secretary, said: “The POA is two weeks away from its annual conference in Southport and will no doubt debate the attacks on the Union, Prison Service staff and the public services.”
Management has been put out to tender at five prisons across the country in recent years. The prison service succeeded in retaining control at two sites, including HMS Blakenhurst in Redditch, Worcestershire, after submitting the successful bid and winning the contract.
The Chief Inspector of Prisons warned in 2007 that Birmingham Prison was failing to cope with the number of prisoners passing through its doors, following a surprise inspection.
A report warned: “We found inadequate entries and plans in the documentation for the support of potentially suicidal prisoners; and those new to the prison spent considerable periods in poorly-equipped cells, with a minimal regime.
“Though there was evidence of support for individual prisoners, and we did not believe that Birmingham was an unsafe prison, those procedures urgently need to be reviewed and closely monitored.”
It said Birmingham Prison faced a difficult task because of overcrowding in every part of the prison service, but added: “This inspection found that the prison was not responding sufficiently proactively and robustly to the challenges it now faced.”
