Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

I am sure it was far better for industrial relations between prison officers and the Government to be governed by an agreement as opposed to the way in which things happened previously. Now that the agreement is coming to an end and there is some controversy about it, there is something distasteful about the Government ratcheting up their bargaining position and weakening that of the Prison Officers’ Association. The noble Lord, Lord Graham, does not seek to remove this clause altogether and accepts that withholding services as a prison officer is an appropriate matter for the Bill. What he does object to are the words, "““any other action likely to affect the normal working of a prison””." The justification the Government have advanced for including a probation against withholding services as a prison officer—striking—is that they are concerned about the welfare of the prisoners. I have two questions for the Minister. First, in what way would the welfare of the prisoners be at risk if the words that the noble Lord, Lord Graham, wishes to be excluded were excluded? What effect would that have? Secondly, why is it necessary to have a negative resolution to suspend or revive the operation of Section 127 and why would it not be better, rather less distasteful and impose less pressure on the Prison Officers’ Association to accept the noble Lord’s amendment that Section 127 should not be brought into effect unless there was an affirmative resolution of both Houses? That seems to be a fair way of dealing with the matter. I appreciate that strike action in a prison is very dangerous, but I can confirm the assertion made by the noble Lord, Lord Graham, that prison officers collectively remained in the vicinity of the prisons at the time of the strike action two or three years ago because I happened to be present at a prison in Liverpool. The prison officers gathered in the forecourt of the prison and remained there just in case there were any problems that required their intervention. The noble Lord seems to have proposed a formula that accepts the necessity to ban strike action but questions why anything further should be banned. I agree that the legislation should not be pushed through simply to weaken the bargaining position of prison officers.