Criminal Justice workers Union, Saxon Avenue, Minster (2026)

30/10/2026

🚨 EMPTY POSTS. EARLY RELEASE. OVERLOADED PROBATION.

WHO IS PROTECTING THE PUBLIC?

Apparently, the answer to a prison capacity crisis is to release prisoners earlier and hand the responsibility to another service already desperately short of staff.

What could possibly go wrong?

The government’s own June 2026 figures show public sector prisons and youth custody establishments 1,892 full-time equivalent Band 3 - 5 officers below target staffing.

Among the biggest shortfalls:

🔴 Full Sutton: 108 below target
🔴 Long Lartin: 99 below target
🔴 Cookham Wood: 96 below target
🔴 Whitemoor: 90 below target
🔴 Swaleside: 69 below target
🔴 Woodhill: 64 below target

These are published staffing targets, not a count of officers available on the landings. Sickness, training and other absences affect actual deployment. Overtime and borrowed staff can help cover gaps, but they cannot substitute indefinitely for a properly staffed service.

And these shortages have causes.

The independent Prison Service Pay Review Body records concerns about pay and living costs, recruitment and retention, poor morale, increasing violence and population pressures.

You cannot keep exposing people to danger, exhausting their goodwill and losing their experience, then act surprised when filling the uniform becomes harder.

Inside prisons, shortages restrict regimes, rehabilitation and meaningful contact with staff. Pressure falls on the officers who remain, while opportunities to prepare people properly for release are squeezed.

Then comes the political solution: EARLY RELEASE!

The cell becomes available. The responsibility moves into the community.

But probation officers must still assess risk, check safeguarding information, arrange supervision, coordinate with other agencies and respond when someone’s behaviour deteriorates.

That requires time, experience and staff.

In June 2026, the Probation Service had 5,445 full-time equivalent probation officers against a target of 7,380.

A shortfall of 1,935. More than one in four of the required probation officer posts missing.

Recruiting trainees matters. But a training place today does not instantly provide an experienced practitioner ready to manage a complex, high-risk caseload tomorrow.

Inspectors have identified staffing gaps, inexperience, weaknesses in information sharing and the burden of repeated change. Their London inspection found that prison release initiatives added substantial pressure to an already stretched service.

The public protection consequences are real.

Less capacity means less time to investigate warning signs, challenge concerning behaviour, obtain crucial information and act before risk escalates.

That does not mean every person released early will reoffend. It means safe supervision needs resources, and political announcements cannot provide them.

The Conservatives must answer for the condition in which they left these services. Labour must answer for the decisions it is making now.

“Inherited problems” do not excuse today’s decisions.

Recruitment promises do not fill today’s gaps.

Moving pressure from a prison wing to a probation office does not make it disappear.

CJWU wants sustainable staffing, experienced staff retained, manageable workloads and release arrangements matched to the capacity to supervise safely.

Now look prison staff, probation staff, victims and the public in the eye and tell them the two main political parties have managed this crisis effectively.

We will wait…

30/10/2026

LABOUR INHERITED A PRISON CRISIS. THAT DOES NOT GIVE IT A PERMANENT EXCUSE.

SDS40. A reassuringly technical name for releasing eligible prisoners after 40% of their sentence instead of halfway.

Apparently, changing the percentage was the easy part. Producing a criminal justice system capable of managing the consequences requires rather more than a ministerial announcement.

The latest official figures for England and Wales show 12,338 licence recalls between April and June 2026, compared with 12,278 releases from sentences.

A revolving door so busy it could probably generate electricity.

Recall can be necessary to protect the public, and it does not always involve a new offence. But these figures demand serious answers about how effectively release, supervision and resettlement are working.

Meanwhile, the latest wider reoffending figures show approximately 26,000 reoffenders committing more than 138,000 proven reoffences during the follow-up period. An average of 5.29 each, the highest in the published series.

Those are NOT figures solely for SDS40 prisoners. We will leave statistical sleight of hand to the politicians.

The government still has questions to answer.

Where is the clear evidence showing how its early-release policies are performing?

• What happened to those released?
• Was suitable accommodation, supervision and monitoring in place?
• What changed when arrangements failed?

And where is the funded workforce plan that makes public protection achievable?

Prison and probation staff cannot supervise a press release. They cannot assess risk with a slogan. They cannot protect communities with another promise that help is coming.

Yes, previous governments helped create this mess. Labour now owns the responsibility for what it does next.

CJWU wants safe staffing, manageable workloads, proper rehabilitation and transparent results.

Ministers can congratulate themselves on creating space. The public is entitled to ask whether they have created safety.

An empty prison bed is a capacity figure. Public protection is the test.

28/10/2026

This week alone in the UK, 84 men will take their own lives.

What’s truly terrifying isn’t just the number, it’s how comfortable society still is using outdated phrases like "man up" or "grow some balls" whenever a guy shows vulnerability.

Those words don't build tough men. They build silent men. They force guys to lock their pain away behind closed doors until it becomes too heavy to bear.

Silence shouldn't be the default.

Real strength isn't suffering in isolation. Real strength is having the courage to drop the act, step outside, and admit when you aren't doing okay.

At Men Walking and Talking, there are no clinical rooms, no forced speeches, and no judgment. Just stepping out shoulder-to-shoulder with guys who get it.

Don't spend another week carrying it alone.

👟 Take the first step and find your nearest local group at menwalkingandtalking.co.uk

If you need support, guidance, or immediate crisis help, reach out:

Mind Infoline: 0300 123 3393 (Mon–Fri, 9am–6pm)

Samaritans: 116 123 (Free, 24/7)

Shout Crisis Text Line: Text SHOUT to 85258 (Free, 24/7)

26/10/2026

🏉❤️ A MASSIVE THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS! ❤️🏉

Everyone at HMPPS RFC would like to say a huge thank you to our fantastic sponsors for their continued support! 👏

🤝 Criminal Justice Workers Union (CJWU)

🐾 Tired Paws – Retired Prison Dogs

👑 PSSA - Prison Service Sports Association

Your generosity and support mean so much to our team and help us continue doing what we love, both on and off the rugby pitch.

Rugby is about more than just 80 minutes on the field. It’s about teamwork, respect, camaraderie and bringing people together. 💪🏉

We are incredibly grateful to have such brilliant organisations backing us.

From all the players, coaches and everyone involved with HMPPS RFC – THANK YOU! ❤️👏

Please show our sponsors some love and support! 🙌

24/10/2026

⛺ WELCOME TO THE GREAT BRITISH PRISON RESETTLEMENT CAMPSITE! 🤡

Apparently, the latest solution to prison overcrowding comes with tent pegs and a sleeping bag!

Just when you thought the criminal justice system couldn’t become any more ridiculous, today’s news delivers another extraordinary insight into the reality facing frontline staff.

According to an investigation published by The Telegraph on 24 October, probation staff have reportedly been providing tents to prisoners leaving custody because suitable accommodation cannot be found.

One whistleblower claims their probation office distributed approximately 100 TENTS over the past year.

Yes, you read that correctly.

TENTS!

THE NEW REHABILITATION PACKAGE?

Prison release paperwork? Completed.

Risk assessment? Hopefully completed.

Licence conditions? Issued.

Suitable accommodation? Sorry, fully booked.

Alternative arrangements? Have you considered a lovely spot overlooking the local roundabout?

Perhaps the next government announcement will include a complimentary camping stove and a leaflet entitled Rehabilitation Through Outdoor Living.

Naturally, the government says providing tents is NOT official policy…

Well, that’s reassuring!

Because the alternative explanation is that frontline staff are reportedly so desperate to find somewhere for people to sleep that camping equipment has become an emergency solution.

And before anyone accuses the CJWU of exaggerating, consider this:

Official Ministry of Justice figures show that just 83.3% of prison leavers were housed on their first night following release in the year ending March 2026.

That is a rather uncomfortable statistic for a system promising effective rehabilitation and public protection.

Meanwhile, who deals with the consequences?

🔍 Probation officers and PSOs desperately trying to secure accommodation and manage risk.

🏠 Resettlement teams, charities and contracted providers attempting to find solutions that simply aren’t available.

👮 Prison officers and OSGs preparing people for release.

📋 Operational support teams processing increasingly complex arrangements.

And when something goes wrong?

Will the minister be standing in the rain explaining why the accommodation referral failed?

Of course not 🤡

THAT RESPONSIBILITY WILL LAND SQUARELY ON THE FRONTLINE WORKFORCE.

The CJWU believes there is something fundamentally wrong with a criminal justice system that can calculate an earlier release date but cannot consistently secure somewhere suitable for that person to live.

Public protection requires proper planning, accommodation, trained professionals and sufficient resources.

Not another press release.

And certainly not a two-person tent from the camping aisle!

CJWU | INDEPENDENT. PROFESSIONAL. UNAFRAID TO CHALLENGE.

Follow and support the Criminal Justice Workers Union. Because frontline workers deserve a voice, not another government camping expedition!

21/10/2026

THE GOVERNMENT HAS ADMITTED IT. ITS OWN RELEASE REFORMS ARE INCREASING THE RISK OF SERIOUS ERRORS!

And once again, prison and probation staff are expected to carry the consequences of political decisions.

In evidence published on 19 October 2026, HMPPS acknowledges that the Sentencing Act 2026 progression model has significantly heightened the risk of prisoners being released in error or unlawfully detained.

Read that again.

The Government’s own department is acknowledging increased risks arising from the very reforms ministers are introducing!

Complicated exemptions, manual sentence calculations and compressed implementation timescales are placing additional pressure on a prison system already struggling with staffing shortages, overcrowding and relentless policy changes.

And the figures should alarm everyone.

🔴 192 prisoners were recorded as released in error in the year ending March 2026.

🔴 925 temporary release failures were recorded during the same period.

🔴 51 prisoners failed to return from temporary release, with 12 still at large after 30 days.

These are historical figures, not the number of failures caused by the October 2026 reforms. But they demonstrate the risks that already existed before another layer of complexity was introduced.

So what is this Government doing?

Introducing further sentencing changes, demanding more complicated calculations, accelerating release arrangements and expecting already overstretched prison staff to ensure that everything runs flawlessly.

Meanwhile, probation officers are expected to supervise offenders returning to communities, manage risks, protect victims and absorb the consequences of decisions made far above their pay grades.

And when something goes wrong?

Will ministers accept responsibility for the pressures created by their policies?

Or will the individual prison officer, sentence calculation specialist or probation practitioner be left facing the investigation, the scrutiny and the blame?

You cannot legislate away a prison capacity crisis.

You cannot replace experienced staff with political announcements.

And you cannot promise public protection while introducing changes that your own department acknowledges increase the risk of serious mistakes.

The CJWU is not suggesting that every prisoner released under these schemes presents a danger.

We are saying that public protection depends upon accurate sentence calculations, properly resourced prisons, effective probation supervision and sufficient time to implement changes safely.

Those safeguards cannot simply be assumed because a minister announces them at a press conference.

The Government must now answer some very straightforward questions.

🔴 How many additional staff have been provided to manage these calculations?

🔴 What independent checks are in place before prisoners are released?

🔴 How many errors have occurred since the October progression model began?

🔴 And what additional resources have been provided to probation staff responsible for supervising those released?

The public deserves answers. Victims deserve reassurance based on evidence, not political slogans.

And criminal justice workers deserve a Government that listens to the professionals rather than continually expecting them to rescue a system from the consequences of political decision-making.

The Government has acknowledged the increased risk. Now it must demonstrate how that risk is being controlled.

Because when a release decision goes wrong, the consequences are not confined to a ministerial briefing.

They can be felt by victims, families, communities and the frontline workers left dealing with the aftermath.

21/10/2026

WARTIME NATIONAL SERVICE: UP TO 60.

PRISON OFFICER’S NORMAL PENSION AGE: UP TO 68.

Government needs to explain that comparison.

Warnings about Britain’s readiness for war have reignited discussion about conscription. During the Second World War, men under 51 could be required to undertake military service, with some form of national service required up to 60.

Those are historical limits, not an announced new call-up policy. But they raise a question ministers should answer:

WHY ARE PRISON OFFICERS EXPECTED TO KEEP FACING FRONTLINE DANGER UNTIL 68 TO RECEIVE THEIR PENSION WITHOUT AN EARLY-RETIREMENT REDUCTION?

Eight years beyond that historical national service ceiling.

Eight more years of responding to alarms, breaking up violent confrontations, facing improvised weapons and protecting colleagues from serious injury.

At 67, an officer could be a grandparent approaching their own retirement while physically restraining someone young enough to be their grandchild.

The weapon is still sharp.
The punch still breaks bones.
The stairs do not get shorter.
And backup does not arrive faster because your body is wearing out.

Experience matters. But experience does not make you stab-proof, reverse damaged joints or erase decades of trauma.

“You can retire earlier” is a comfortable answer from someone whose pension does not depend on how many more years their body can survive a prison landing.

Why should an officer have to choose between protecting their health and accepting a permanently reduced pension?

Ministers cannot keep praising the bravery of prison officers while maintaining a pension age that fails to recognise the physical reality of their work.

If 60 was the upper limit for compulsory national service during a world war, explain the justification for a prison pension age eight years beyond it.

Explain it to the officer recovering from an assault.
Explain it to their family.
Explain it before another colleague pays the price.

CJWU demands a pension age that reflects the danger, physical demands and cumulative damage of the job.

68 is just a number - 2 YEARS OFF 70 IS THE REALITY.

GOVERNMENT MUST STOP EXPECTING PRISON OFFICERS TO PAY FOR THEIR FAILURES WITH THEIR BODIES.

19/10/2026

GOVERNMENT SHOULD READ THIS. THE PUBLIC DESERVES TO HEAR IT.

A prison officer can finish a shift with somebody else’s blood on their uniform, their own injuries being photographed and an incident replaying in their head that will follow them home.

Spat at. Punched. Kicked. Threatened. Attacked with bodily fluids or an improvised weapon.

Then comes the hospital visit. The worry about infection. The phone call home. The child asking what happened to your face.

And eventually, the expectation that you will walk back through those gates.

In England and Wales, there were 9,833 recorded assaults on prison staff in the year to March 2026. Of those, 871 were serious.

The overall number fell. Good. Now explain why thousands of assaults remain an acceptable backdrop to somebody’s working life.

These are people trying to earn a living and come home safely. People expected to stop violence, prevent su***de, recognise a mental health crisis, challenge dangerous behaviour and help prisoners rebuild their lives.

Their decisions face scrutiny.

Government’s decisions about the conditions they work in deserve the same relentless examination.

Police and firefighters have a normal pension age of 60 under their relevant schemes. Some prison officers face 68 before taking their alpha pension without an early payment reduction.

Does a violent prisoner become less dangerous because the officer answering the alarm is old enough to be their grandparent?

Does experience make a fractured jaw hurt less? Does professional commitment repair a damaged knee or erase decades of trauma?

The courage of older officers is beyond question. The judgment of those relying on it deserves to be challenged.

Meanwhile, staff are expected to deliver rehabilitation where shortages restrict meaningful activity. Stocken’s monitoring board recently praised staff commitment while reporting recruitment and retention problems, increased violence and drugs, and pressure on resettlement.

Read that again: committed staff, working against conditions that undermine the job they are there to do.

Announcing earlier release does not answer who will supervise people safely, where they will live or whether probation staff have the capacity to manage the risks. Moving pressure through the prison gate leaves somebody else carrying it.

And when an officer is assaulted, “zero tolerance” must mean something beyond a statement.

CPS guidance already says assaults on officers performing their duties weigh heavily towards prosecution. Show staff how that translates into action. Publish the referrals, charging decisions, court outcomes and sentences. Explain the delays. Support the victim throughout.

Nobody should have to fight for recognition that being attacked at work matters.

Government must deliver staffing that reflects the danger, policies and training that reflect today’s conditions, meaningful rehabilitation, properly resourced probation and pension arrangements that recognise the physical reality of prison work.

To the public: when you hear about a prison incident, remember the people whose job requires them to move towards it.

To ministers: spend less time rehearsing assurances and more time answering for what happens behind those gates.

An officer’s blood is not an operating cost.

Their trauma is not a staffing solution.

Their pension should not depend on surviving a frontline role until 68.

CJWU will keep demanding answers.

15/10/2026

JIMMY McGOVERN: STAFF DESERVE RESPECT, NOT YOUR CONTEMPT.

Calling officers “lazy” and suggesting safety arrangements allow them to “sit on their backsides all day and do nothing” is an arrogant, insulting dismissal of people doing exceptionally demanding work.

For someone whose profession depends on understanding human beings, that is a remarkably shallow assessment.

Writing a prison drama does not make you an authority on safely managing a landing. A research visit does not give you the experience of staff who must make difficult decisions, protect vulnerable children, prevent violence and live with the consequences when things go wrong.

Real incidents have no director shouting “cut”. Injured staff cannot reset the scene. Trauma does not disappear when the credits roll.

Across the youth justice estate, dedicated officers, operational support staff, teachers, healthcare teams, psychologists and other professionals bring skill, patience, courage and compassion to work every day.

Their quiet successes rarely make television: a crisis defused, a child reassured, a relationship built, another opportunity to change a life.

They deserve recognition, resources and leadership.

You acknowledged meeting wonderful officers, Jimmy. Why reach for such a cheap, contemptuous explanation of the problems they face?

Prolonged isolation deserves scrutiny. Poor practice must be challenged. But reducing complex institutional failures to staff laziness is intellectually lazy in itself.

And implying that officers should simply cope with violence is breathtakingly dismissive. Being assaulted is not a professional obligation. Preventing harm requires judgement, training and support, not a screenwriter’s casual confidence.

The CJWU stands proudly with the committed staff working throughout the youth justice estate.

Jimmy, you can write the next episode.

Our members have to work the next shift.

They deserve better than your sneering garbage commentary.

10/10/2026

WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY: HAVE YOU TRIED GOOGLE MAPS?

Criminal justice staff: exhausted, worried about bills and trying to keep prisons, probation and the wider system functioning.

Downing Street: Have you checked where the cheapest petrol is?

Brilliant. After a draining shift, just embark on a little treasure hunt for affordable fuel. Nothing says “we understand your struggles” quite like adding another job to your day.

Perhaps Google Maps could also locate a properly staffed prison, a manageable probation caseload and a government willing to listen?

We’re still waiting for those directions.

Prime Minister, whoever holds the keys to Number 10, staff need more than a cheaper route to another exhausting shift.

They need fair pay, safe staffing, manageable workloads and mental health support they can actually access.

You cannot keep expecting people to absorb the consequences of political decisions, then offer a wellbeing leaflet when they struggle.

Criminal justice workers are human beings. Their resilience is not an endless government resource.

This World Mental Health Day, spare us the token concern. Give staff something that makes tomorrow easier to face.

Criminal Justice workers Union

30/10/2026

30/10/2026

28/10/2026

26/10/2026

24/10/2026

21/10/2026

21/10/2026

19/10/2026

15/10/2026

10/10/2026

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Organisation

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Other Minster non profit organisations

Listing takedown request