Prison officers hold talks with Jack Straw in pay row

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Talks aimed at resolving the prison officers' dispute started today with the Government standing firm on the staging of a pay rise which led to a wildcat strike.

Leaders of the Prison Officers' Association were meeting Justice Secretary Jack Straw in London, saying they had been promised "meaningful" negotiations over pay and other issues such as prison overcrowding and the rising number of assaults against staff.

Around 20,000 POA members staged a lightning walkout across England and Wales on Wednesday in protest at the Government's controversial decision to pay a 2.5% award in two stages.

POA general secretary Brian Caton said before today's meeting that he was hopeful of making progress.

He said: "We don't want to talk about the strike because that will just be kicking over the dust. We want to look to the future and satisfy our members' desire for decent pay and conditions.

"Our members are very angry at the way they have been treated over pay, increasing assaults and their ability to do their job."

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Prison officers staged a 'wildcat' strike earlier this week over their pay settlement

Caton added: "Just sending people out of prison who are more likely to offend than when they went in is no good for society.

"The prison service seems to blandly go on as if it doesn't care but there is nothing worse for a prison officer than sending someone out of prison and finding out that they have committed another crime because of a lack of resources to help them when they were serving their sentence."

Justice minister David Hanson said earlier that he wanted a "more positive" approach from the union during today's talks.

He made clear during an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live that there would be no change to this year's pay settlement.