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Justice sector

PCS members work in many government departments and non-departmental public bodies in the Justice Sector, including:

  • Ministry of Justice
  • Home Office
  • Prison Service
  • Land Registry
  • Crown Prosecution Service
  • Metropolitan Police
  • Independent Police Complaints Commission
  • Serious Organised Crime Agency
  • Forensic Science Service.

Justice sector members face many of the same issues and erosive government policies that their counterparts in other areas of the union confront, namely on:

  • pay
  • staff cuts and increased workloads
  • privatisation / marketisation of public services and the sector
  • threat of redundancies
  • inadequate resourcing
  • organisational restructuring.

With the additional strain of being constantly in the media and public eye, mostly in negative terms, and undergoing a huge, continual cycle of government reform and activity, the justice sector, including the criminal justice system, is facing some of its most daunting challenges to date.

PCS justice sector forum

The PCS justice sector forum (JSF) is the PCS co-ordinating body set up to advise the national executive committee on Justice sector policy issues affecting the work undertaken by PCS members.

It also provides information to the justice unions’ parliamentary group (JUPG), the PCS parliamentary group and maintains close working links with the pan-union Justice Forum and union learning networks in this sector.

The JSF is not a decision-making body and has no executive powers. Meetings are usually held quarterly and are linked with those of the JUPG.

The forum consists of one lay representative from each of the bargaining areas that has members working in the justice system, nominated by their group or national branch. A PCS vice president, full time officers and a campaigns officer attend as necessary.

The justice forum and justice unions’ parliamentary group

The justice forum is a consortium of Justice Sector trade unions – PCS, Napo, POA, UNISON and UCU – who:

  • Co-ordinate the interests of those working in and using the justice system
  • Exchange information
  • Campaign jointly on issues of common concern
  • Work to achieve a fair, open and equally accessible system of justice for all citizens
  • Hold conferences and arrange debates on key issues.

The Justice Unions’ Parliamentary Group is the parliamentary arm of the Justice Forum which regularly briefs MPs on key issues affecting members in this Sector.

Recent issues, raised on behalf of PCS members, include:

  • Met Police volunteers
  • Prison Service – prison overcrowding; National Offender Management Service
  • Merger issues of Assets Recovery Agency and Serious Organised Crime Agency
  • Impact of Ministry of Justice restructuring.

If you are a PCS member working in the justice sector and would like to raise an issue, in the first instance you should contact your Group Executive Committee or National Branch Executive Committee, or full time officer.

If you would like to know more about any of the above union bodies, feel free to contact the PCS National Secretary’s Office on:

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