Most of us will never see the work that goes on behind the high walls of our prisons but we should all be immensely proud of the men and women who work there.
Not only do they keep us safe but they play a crucial role in the fight against crime by challenging prisoners to reform and lead law abiding lives when they get out.
Of course prisons must be places of punishment but they must also be places of reform.
We want prisons like HMP Rochester, HMYI Cookham Wood and Medway STC here in Rochester and Strood to be places of hard-work, discipline and self-improvement, particularly in light of the issues faced both locally and across the country.
Medway STC is now under the new leadership of Governor French (pictured) and I am hopeful the facility will now be able to go from strength to strength for the benefit of the young, vulnerable people there.
Recently, I also welcomed the decision to upgrade HMP Rochester with a new development on the current site. The plans will create hundreds of modern prison places and replacing old and overcrowded establishments with new, fit for purpose buildings.
However, there is currently almost a 50:50 chance that any offender leaving prison this year will commit another crime within twelve months of release.
Our reoffending rate has been too high for too long. It amounts to a £15 billion annual drain on society. The cost to victims is incalculable.
We know that offenders who have a job to go to on release are far less likely to commit another crime.
And that is where our valuable prison staff come in. Under this Government’s reforms, detailed in our White Paper and the Prisons and Courts Bill, prison and probation staff will play a pivotal role in making our communities safer.
From this month governors will take control of budgets – giving them the freedom to decide how best to spend their money and improve performance in their prison.
Every prison officer will have a caseload of six offenders who they can supervise and challenge to get off drugs and get the right education and skills to get a job on release and quit crime for good.
Transforming lives is one of the most rewarding elements of being a prison officer provided the right support and environment is given. This is about making a difference not just to the life of the offender but to their family and the community they live in.
It is why this week we launched Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service – the new frontline agency which will have responsibility for making our prisons and communities safer and reducing the risk of reoffending.
Prison and probation staff provide an invaluable public service day in and day out, often without the praise they deserve. The launch of HMPPS, alongside new development opportunities for staff, will ensure they get the training and support they need to succeed and be proud to work for an organisation that is transforming lives.
This new frontline is being bolstered by the recruitment of an extra 2,500 new officers and we already have record numbers of new recruits in training.
The creation of HMPPS is part of our far-reaching changes to the prison service, the biggest overhaul in a generation.
The new service will be supported by the Ministry of Justice which has responsibility for setting standards and scrutinizing how well our prisons are performing.
The problems in our prisons have been years in the making. They will not be solved in weeks or months.
I know the Justice Secretary, Elizabeth Truss, is determined to transform how our prisons work and make society safer and I know we can count on our brave and dedicated prison officers to be at the forefront of this change.