Federation concern at cells plan

4 December 2022

Nottinghamshire Police Federation chair Simon Riley described plans to house prisoners in police cells as “a failure of Government”.

The Government has written to the National Police Chiefs’ Council to request the use of up to 400 police cells because prisons are too full.

Simon said the situation was a consequence of cuts to the police and prison services. And he said the plan would take away from police officers’ frontline duties, and put them, prisoners and the public at risk.

He said: “It’s a failure of Government that they’re even considering using police cells to house inmates.

“Years of Government cuts and under-investment have led to this situation where not only is our police service over-stretched and under-resourced but so is our prison service – and every other public service for that matter.

“It’s going to put huge pressure on policing at a time when we’re already stretched beyond our capacity.

“Our members aren’t prison wardens, and they’re not trained to deal with prisoners in this way, which poses a risk for them and for inmates.

“What happens if something goes wrong? What will the consequences be?”

Simon adds: “It will also take officers away from frontline roles, and with fewer officers available for day-to-day policing it will put the public at risk.

“Police officers shouldn’t be picking up the pieces because of the Government’s failures in other services.

“We’ve seen it before with mental health services, social services and even ambulance and NHS services, that the police are the service of last resort.

“It needs to stop. The Government needs to invest properly in all public services and allow our members to do their jobs serving and protecting the public.”