Reform Of NI Prisons Unstoppable Claims Justice Minister

The reform of the Northern Ireland Prison Service is unstoppable, Justice Minister David Ford has said.

In a statement to the Assembly today, the Minister updated MLAs on progress to date in fundamentally reforming the Prison Service since the publication of the Owers Report in October.

Mr Ford confirmed that detailed negotiations between Prison Service Management and the Prison Officers' Association have been successfully concluded, with an agreement in principle reached on new working practices.

David Ford said: "The scale of the change programme currently underway in the Northern Ireland Prison Service should not be underestimated. It is highly complexed, comprises over 70 different activities and will in the next few years deal with every aspect of prison life.

"Over the last six months we have laid the foundations for fundamental reform. Some 151 staff will leave the service at the end of this week under the exit scheme and almost 5,000 applicants for the custody officer posts have been received.

"Central to the modernising of the service was securing an agreement on future working practices. Detailed and painstaking negotiations have taken place with the unions over the past several months leading to an agreement being reached in principle at the end of last week."

Included under the new agreed arrangements which will be phased in over the next few months are:

The repeal of the current and long-standing Framework Agreement, to be replaced by a new Staff Deployment Agreement.

New Operating Model for establishments will be launched on April 1 and rolled into line with appropriate staff to prisoner ratios and a new core day over the next six months.

Introduction of new Custody Officer and Offender Supervisors roles.

Current seven tier management structure reduced to four with the amalgamation of several grades.

New disputes and Industrial Relations Procedural Agreement to be implemented along with a new Code of Ethics.

(CD/GK)