Prison Officers Association: Protest Action Debate

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Department: Ministry of Justice

Prison Officers Association: Protest Action

Philip Hollobone Excerpts
Tuesday 15th November 2016

(7 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Elizabeth Truss Portrait Elizabeth Truss
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My hon. Friend is absolutely right that psychoactive substances have played a large part in the violence issues, which is why it was so important that we rolled out those drugs tests over the past month or so and that we have trained dogs to detect those substances. We have also seen a rise in the use of mobile phones and drones, which poses a new security threat. Again, we are dealing with that.

Philip Hollobone Portrait Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)
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In order to get staff numbers up quickly before the fresh permanent recruitment kicks in, will the Government consider swallowing their pride and launch a programme to re-recruit prison officers who have recently left the service on temporary six or 12-month contracts?

Elizabeth Truss Portrait Elizabeth Truss
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We are absolutely willing to consider those people returning to the service. We want to recruit high-quality officers.