Covid-19 update

The health and safety of our members in prison education is a key priority for the union and we are working with employers, HMPPS and politicians to ensure that your rights, pay and conditions are protected.

Firstly, and in line with government advice on social distancing and requests made for other areas in which our members work, the general secretary has written to HMPPS requesting that all prison education departments within prisons are closed on a no-detriment basis to the PEF contract and to individual members' pay.

At the time of writing, the secretary of state for education, was announcing the school closure plan. UCU's position is that in line with the move to stop face-to-face provision in other sectors, we should also be ceasing the delivery of prison education until further notice.

Westminster Hall debate on safety in prisons

UCU is a founding member of Justice Unions in Prisons Alliance and attends Justice Unions Parliamentary Group. As part of that work a Westminster Hall debate took place on 18 March on safety in prisons. The Commons Library produced a briefing pack for the debate.

Reassurances were asked of the minister by Liz Saville Roberts that no prison education provider would be sanctioned for under delivery (or no delivery) of hours in the current crisis. The minister, Alex Chalk, in response stated: 'The point was made about not penalising non-delivery of teaching hours. That seems to me eminently sensible. I hope that the right hon. Member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd understands why I cannot commit to anything, but I take that point in the spirit in which it was intended and I hope that it will be given appropriate consideration'.

As you will see from the above letter, we have sought assurances directly from HMPPS that the contract would continue to be paid.

Worryingly, however, the junior minister admitted that staff could be expected to perform different roles: 'Some of that contingency planning may include the need to ask staff to work in a different place and potentially do different tasks. That will be to make sure we can maintain frontline operational delivery, to protect the public and robustly manage risks.'

We have made the point very clear in our correspondence with all employers and with HMPPS directly, that our members are there to deliver education. We are seeking urgent clarification from the minister that he does not consider prison educators, as non-directly employed workers,  to be appropriate for redeployment into different roles or tasks without the necessary consultation, risk-assessment, training and agreements being in place.

Only one employer, (NOVUS) have confirmed to us that they have issued advice to education managers that staff should not be expected to undertake non-educational duties. However, they have gone on to say that there may be requests that are made by governors which they will consider on a case by case basis. If this happens in your establishment then we need you to notify your reps as soon as possible so that we can issue appropriate advice and guidance and make representations to the employer or to ministers as appropriate.

UCU parliamentary questions

Richard Burgon, MP and Shadow Secretary of State for Justice has given all UCU prison education members his support and will be following up our concerns with the minister. A list of parliamentary questions which UCU has helped compile on the current crisis, can be viewed here.

UCU representations with your employers

We have been escalating issues as fast as we can with individual employers. Queries have ranged from pay concerns (some employers are refusing to confirm their position with regards to pay for those staff who have been identified as 'vulnerable' due to an underlying health condition).

Our position is that no member of staff should suffer a detriment because of this crisis. Please let your local representative know of any issues or answer any queries that you may have. It is much easier for us to be able to respond if you go via your local rep so that we can keep track of requests and respond more quickly.

We have been logging various concerns, especially with regards to access to hand-washing facilities. We are receiving reports that staff are having to take onto site their own soap. We have escalated these issues directly with HMPPS lead on health and safety.

To help UCU monitor and challenge what is going on within the prison estate we will be sending out a questionnaire to all members over the next few days. This will help us to complete both a local and national picture on what facilities are and are not available and to monitor any emerging changes to regimes etc.'Any questions please do get in touch either directly or via your local representative.  If you don't know who your local UCU rep is or if you haven't got a local rep please contact Ronnie Kershaw, UCU national organiser,  to be put in touch with a branch committee member.