NIPS Annual Report and Accounts 2012-13 - Department of Justice

2012-2013
Approval for this final business case, allowing all
staff who had applied to leave was received from
DFP in February 2013. All but 27 of the additional
staff have been informed they will be allowed to
leave when it is operationally appropriate for them
to do so. We will continue to work towards securing
the funding necessary to allow the remaining
individuals to leave the Service.
Employee Consultation
The Service recognises the importance of good
industrial relations and is committed to effective
employee relations and communications. Regular
meetings are held with representatives of Trade
Unions under the Whitley Framework. In May 2012
NIPS management and the POA reached agreement
which saw the replacement of the Framework
Document, the introduction of new grades within
NIPS, de-layering the management structure from
seven to four tiers, and the implementation of a
new Industrial Relations Agreement and Disputes
Resolution Procedure. The agreement heralded
a new era of industrial relations within prisons
one which will facilitate the fundamental reform
programme to modernise the Prison Service to
continue apace.
officers have been appointed, no further custody
officers to be appointed from the 2012 competition.
Training
Training has taken place for OSGs and NCOs who
applied to re-grade to Custody Officer, with 166
staff having completed their training by mid-
February 2013.
Communication
How NIPS communicates with staff and
stakeholders was highlighted in the PRT
Report. A dedicated internal communications
strategy manager was appointed in July 2012.
A communications strategy was developed and
agreed by the Prison Service Management Team in
September 2012.
The Prison Service and its Trade Union partners
have continued to engage in detailed discussions
throughout the year in terms of what the reform
programme will mean to staff as it rolls out.
The Service recognises the importance of good
employee relations and is committed to effective
employee relations and communications.
Custody Officer Recruitment
The recruitment campaign for new custody officers
launched in February 2012 received almost 5000
applications for approximately 300 anticipated
vacancies. A rigorous selection process began this
year with all those recruited required to complete
an intensive eight week training course before
deployment to a permanent post. 309 custody
Piloting of new search technology
Two pilot projects to assess whether there is
an effective and less intrusive method than full
searching were carried out this year. The pilots
looked at Millimetre Wave Body Scanners and
ran for three months in Magilligan and Hydebank
Wood. Following the completion of the pilots in
January 2013, evaluation of the project showed
there were limitations to the technology in the
prison environment and that current full searching
processes provided a higher level of assurance.
NIPS will continue to take steps to establish if there
is an effective and less intrusive method than full
searching of ensuring that prisoners leaving and
entering the prison are not carrying contraband.
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