Chronic
overcrowding in the UK’s prisons has led to a huge rise in stress and sickness
absence levels among prison officers.
New
figures produced by the Liberal Democrats show that the rising prison
population has led to a 34 per cent increase in sickness absence, with 115,000
days a year lost to ill health.
The
sector is also suffering major skills shortages with more than 1,000 unfilled
vacancies for warders at prisons across the country.
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Annette
Brooke, pensions spokeswoman for the Liberal Democrats said the situation was
creating a crisis in morale and as a consequence increased the danger of riots
and assaults.
