The dramatic rise in violent attacks on prison officers (a 23% rise in the last 12 months alone) is undermining the safety of our prisons and we need to see the roll-out of body worn cameras increased to keep our officers safe.
These attacks coincide with the significant rise in the use of drugs such as Spice in prisons – also known as New Psychoactive Substances. The Government needs to get a grip of the situation if not more violent attacks will take place.
Reform prisons were announced with much fanfare by the Government as a way to tackle the deterioration in our prisons and to ensure that prison governors had the powers they needed to cater for the needs of the prisoners, the prison officers and families to improve rehabilitation.
A trail was put in place with a small number of prisons to demonstrate how these prisons would work. However, one of these prisons, HMP Holme House, has been in the news as a recent investigation found that it had a “very serious drug problem.” All along I have stated that it has been unclear who would be responsible if something went wrong in the reform prison. So today I asked the Secretary of State who was responsible for this failing: the governor, the head of the justice department civil service or himself.
Over the past few days at Conference I have been able to meet with a great number of businesses, charities and organisations. Just one of them was the Polcie Federation who I have been working closely with to ensure our police get the support and resources they need.
As you know, I have been camapaigning against the police officer cuts that have been imposed over the last seven years – 138 officers have been cut in North Wales alone.
At this meeting I was able to pledge my support for a Bill to protect those who protect us: which includes police officers, nurses, doctors and firefighters to name but a few. It is important that we have zero tolerance towards agression to those who are caring for our community and this Bill would be a great step towards securing that future.
This week I met with campaigners calling for greater awareness about the dangers surrounding Halloween fancy dress.
The parliamentary event was held in association with Sainsbury’s supermarkets to help ensure that people know that not all children’s fancy dress costumes reach the same health and safety standards. This means that the more rigorous standards put in place by some supermarkets are not met and puts children at risk. Read more “Halloween Fancy Dress”