JUPA prison safety summit

As part of the work that UCU is undertaking with the Joint Unions Prisons Alliance (JUPA) we are looking to ensure that staff safety and decency is taken seriously by employers and HMPPS.

JUPA called a prison safety summit on 25 February 2020, which was attended by politicians, HMPPS, the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) and providers from education and health. Members from some of the unions also attended to give personal testimony about their working environments in prisons.

The aim of the summit was to develop a more robust and effective approach to health and safety systems for all workers within prisons, and to that end drew up the Safe Inside Prisons Charter Safe Inside Prisons Charter [129kb].

The summit and prison safety charter was raised in Justice Questions by Imran Hussain MP on the day of the summit. You can view a video of the exchange below:

Shadow Prisons Minister @Imran_HussainMP calls on the govt to adopt the new Safe Prisons Charter drawn up today by the Joint Unions in Prisons Alliance "and put the safety of staff first" @POAUnion @ucu @theRCN @Napo_News @PCS_union @GMB_union @TheBMA @unisontweets @unitetheunion pic.twitter.com/0u1MROy95S

— Justice Unions Parliamentary Group (@JusticeUnions) February 25, 2020

The summit was very successful with providers, HSE, politicians and HMPPS present on the day, supporting the charter. The charter is also now the subject of an Early Day Motion and we are asking all members to write to their MPs asking them to sign the EDM in support of the charter. To help with this, we have drawn up a model letter to MPs which can be found here [13kb].Please take the time to contact your MP because the more political pressure we can exert on this issue, the more likely we are to see action on tackling these concerns that so fundamentally impact on your ability to do your job.