JUPA activity update

By way of background, the Joint Unions in Prisons Alliance (JUPA) was set up in response to ongoing concerns about the safety of staff working in prison environments to seek improvements to working conditions in prisons so that staff can feel 'Safe Inside'.

The alliance brings together the following trade unions and professional organisations, all of whom have members working to provide services in prisons:

BMA (British Medical Association), GMB, Napo (trade union and professional association for probation staff), Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), POA (Prison Officers Association), Royal College of Nursing (RCN), UCU (University and College Union), Unison and Unite.

We represent staff employed by HMPPS, private prison providers, and staff working for contractors providing cleaning, maintenance, healthcare, and education services.

JUPA meet the HMPPS quarterly and our focus is on improving staff safety, work-related violence, the impact of exposures to psychoactive substances, poor working conditions and overcrowding and consultation on health and safety issues.

The alliance agreed our JUPA Safe Inside Prisons Charter in 2019 (updated in 2021). The charter aims to promote the development of positive safety cultures and safe working practices, which protect the long-term physical and mental well-being of all those working within our prisons, regardless of their employer. We promote the charter in meetings with the HMPPS, however, it's disappointing to report that HMPPS has not agreed to adopt the charter.

At the most recent quarterly meeting in April, JUPA pressed the HMPPS on the key issues members are raising and which form ongoing agenda items in the meetings.

Body Worn Cameras (BWC): JUPA has concerns about nurses feeling pressured to wear HMPPS owned cameras. The HMPPS BWC policy does not mention third party contractors and the RCN has concerns about GDPR issues with the recordings and possible legal issues. We are continuing this discussion with HMPPS to ensure it is clear to third party contractors that wearing BWC is optional.

Incident reporting: JUPA consider there is general underreporting of incidents and near misses. Incidents are not always reaching the central statistics generated by HMPPS. HMPPS have now advised that all staff should have fobs which allow them to make direct reports on to the HMPPS incident reporting system, and this includes third party providers. If staff or providers do not have the fobs we would encourage you to report this back through to your relevant union.

We also raised the issue of how sexual harassment/ assaults are reported via the incident reporting system and queried whether there should be a specific category for these reports if there is not already one. Currently it is not possible to distinguish between violence and aggression incidents and sexual harassment/assault incidents in statistical reports. We want to fully understand the extent of the issue and challenge HMPPS to do more to protect our members.

SPEAR training (personal protection): JUPA expressed concerns about the inconsistent feedback they receive from members regarding SPEAR training, particularly as part of the induction process for new staff. HMPPS have now confirmed that SPEAR training is available to all staff working in prisons, whether directly employed or employed through contractors. They have also confirmed there will be promotional activity on this to encourage take up of the courses on offer. We encourage all union members to ensure they undertake this training. 

Radon: JUPA is concerned about the issue and is seeking ongoing confirmation from HMPPS regarding the situation at HMP Dartmoor, where decanting of prisoners has taken place, adding further pressure to the system. We are also seeking updates and assurance of management of radon from other parts of the prison estate.

Cladding: JUPA remain concerned about the issues linked to the way cladding can contribute to horizontal and vertical fire spread. We have requested the matter remains on the agenda.

YCS: JUPA raised the situation at Cookham Wood and the repurposing into an adult cat C prison. We raised the issues of recent serious incidents, the movement of the young offenders and the situation regarding the staff.

Local H&S Committees: HMPPS have confirmed that JUPA member non-recognised trade union reps are welcome to attend their local health and safety committees. We strongly encourage active involvement of our reps in attending and raising health and safety issues at a local level while also escalating any ongoing concerns/ issues to your relevant trade union.

JUPA reps welcome any feedback or H&S issues you would like us to raise with the HMPPS. You can raise this with your local union Safety Reps, or you can find details of your prison H&S contacts here.