EDM 1612: Safe Inside Prisons Charter

That this House notes with alarm the rising levels of violence against prison staff, which again have reached record highs after briefly dipping during the pandemic lockdowns; further notes with alarm the toxic culture of unacceptable behaviour within HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) identified by the Rademaker Review into bullying, harassment and discrimination, and acknowledged by the Government; believes frontline workers in prisons need a greater say in policies directly affecting their health and safety, including around the accurate reporting of health and safety violations and secondary exposure to psychoactive substances; welcomes the updated Safe Inside Prisons Charter by the Joint Unions in Prisons Alliance, a coalition of 10 national trades unions representing the majority of staff working in prisons, which sets out the principles of a positive health and safety culture and safer systems of work in such a uniquely challenging workplace environment; further welcomes the Charter’s demand for prison staff to be positively encouraged to raise health and safety concerns without fear of suffering any detriment for doing so, irrespective of employer, a position reinforced by the Rademaker Review’s call for an independent channel outside of the line management structure for reporting, investigating and decisioning bullying, harassment and discrimination complaints; and calls on the Government to instruct HMPPS to adopt the Charter in full immediately as part of an urgent strategy involving all prison unions to reduce violence.