Nearly one in six prisons have no officers trained to deal with riots

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There are no jail officers trained to deal with riots at practically one in six jails in England and Wales, the federal government has admitted – regardless of a surge in deployments final yr.

With the overcrowding disaster inside more and more violent prisons fuelling the prospect of significant dysfunction, The Independent revealed final week that the variety of officers trained to deal with riots as a part of so-called Tornado squads has plummeted by nearly a 3rd in simply 5 years.

That means there have been simply 1,620 Tornado officers throughout the complete jail property as of 27 February – down from 2,310 in 2018. Furthermore, 17 out of the 120 prisons in England and Wales had no Tornado officers in any respect, whereas an additional 21 prisons had fewer than 10 such officers.

The concession was made by prisons minister Edward Argar in response to a collection of parliamentary questions by Labour’s Ruth Cadbury.

Labelling the scenario “scandalous”, former jail governor and Tornado part commander Ian Acheson famous that these embody prisons the place earlier riots have brought about “huge disruption and damage”, in addition to these in distant places and with advanced populations.

“When there is a large-scale disturbance the prison service doesn’t fight fair,” stated Mr Acheson. “That means typically a 3:1 ratio of officers to prisoners to contain and manage a riot. There is no prison in the country that has the resources to contain that threat immediately.”

Tornado officers – sometimes deployed in massive teams armed with batons and shields to assist close by jails cope with outbreaks of significant dysfunction – have been referred to as out 13 occasions in 2023, greater than any yr since not less than 2018.

Two prisons which required Tornado assist final yr – Downview and Wetherby – had simply one such officer amongst their very own employees as of February. Similarly, Werrington had solely six, Feltham 11, Lowdham Grange 12, Portland 13, Stocken 14, and Stoke Heath 15.

Only 1 / 4 of prisons had 20 or extra Tornado-trained officers amongst their employees, evaluation by The Independent discovered. This is with out contending for workers absence due to illness, annual depart or coaching days.

While the Prison Service additionally has a nationwide unit of specialist riot officers deployed the equal of twice a day final yr, up 40 per cent on 2022, Mr Acheson stated: “The best people to deal with a disturbance before it becomes a major threat are those staff who are readily available and who crucially know the prison.”

“I think the capability of dealing with widespread disorder at more than one establishment [simultaneously] is perhaps fatally compromised,” Mr Acheson added, warning this grim prospect was “on [the] horizon” because of the overcrowding and staffing disaster blighting prisons.

While the Prison Officers union suggests {that a} contingency of not less than 2,100 Tornado employees throughout the jail property is the official advice, Mr Argar advised parliament final month that the federal government has not set a minimal staffing requirement.

“So how on earth can you contingency plan?” requested Mr Acheson. Assaults on prisoners and employees soared by 20 per cent in the yr to September, with greater than 25,000 incidents in a single yr. Violence in the ladies’s property skyrocketed to an all-time excessive, overtaking males’s prisons for the primary time.

Despite general officer numbers rising barely in latest years to exceed 22,000, that is nonetheless round 2,500 fewer than in 2010, over which interval the prisoner inhabitants has grown by round 3,000. Meanwhile, the variety of officers with not less than a decade of expertise has practically halved in simply six years.

According to the federal government, 650 officers got Tornado coaching final yr, with plans for 850 coaching locations this yr. But Mr Acheson stated: “Prisons that cannot staff the landing safely to serve lunch or get prisoners to work certainly can’t afford to lose staff for the two week training course/refreshers required.”

Prison Governors Association chief Tom Wheatley advised The Independent that “retention rates are alarmingly low” amongst employees who volunteer as Tornado officers.

Tornado volunteers “don’t get any real additional payments for putting themselves on the line”, warned POA common secretary Steve Gillan, including: “There’s no real difference between rate of pay for Tornado duty and bed watch. They’ve taken them for granted, and now it’s come home to roost.”

The Prison Service has now proposed a 40 per cent pay rise for Tornado officers, Mr Gillan stated, labelling this in impact an admission that officers have been paid “peanuts” for the essential duties.

Ms Cadbury, the shadow prisons minister, stated: “Last week the justice secretary was forced to admit that the prisons capacity crisis this government has created may lead to riots. And yet today we see there a significant number of prisons without a single specialist riot officer – the government need to explain how they have allowed this to happen.

“It is shocking, but is part of the wider picture that simply shows that our prison estate is in utter crisis. With violence rising and assaults on officers increasing, and reoffending rates on the rise, it’s clear the government have no plan to address this crisis.”

A Prison Service spokesperson stated: “The safety of our staff and prisoners is our priority which is why we’re bolstering our Tornado teams by training more than 800 staff this year to deal with serious incidents. This is on top of our £100m investment into tough security measures to clamp down on violence and improve safety.”