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Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

My Lords, I am glad that the noble Baroness, Lady Hanham, has spoken as she has. I was interested that she used the word confidence. I would go further and say that a crucial word is needed in the content of the amendment; that is the word trust. She has mentioned that the Armed Forces, the police, the Prison Service and other public bodies which now have pay review bodies must have trust in those bodies to represent fairly to government the case for whatever rise is recommended. As noble Lords know, there is a certain fragility in the industrial relations scene affecting prison officers. One thing increasing that fragility is that the Prison Officers’ Association has lost trust in both the Government and the Prison Service to deal fairly, as it sees it, with its concerns. One of those concerns is the staging of the pay rise which was recommended last year. When I was a member of the Armed Forces I remember being equally concerned about proposed staged rises because it involved not just the staging of pay but the staging of pension rises. It meant that those people who retired during the first half of the year did not get the whole of the recommended pension rise included in the recommendation of the body. I have to say that I am very surprised indeed that the other place did not even discuss this yesterday. They are the custodians of all this negotiation, and they are the people to whom the Prison Officers’ Association and others look to satisfy and look after their own interests. Therefore, I am extremely disappointed at the least to find that this is how this important amendment with its future ramifications for public service is being treated.