GMB, the union for probation workers, has welcomed Birmingham Prison being brought back into public ownership after the private company running it had its contract terminated.

Security firm G4S was handed a 15-year contract to run HMP Birmingham in 2011 – but has had the contract ripped up. 

In August 2018, Peter Clarke, the chief inspector of prisons, said the jail had fallen into a "state of crisis" and was the worst he had come across. 

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George Georgiou, GMB Organiser, said:

“It’s good news that HMP Birmingham is back where it, and all prisons, belong – in public hands.

“This is another damning indictment of privatisation - and the way contracts are underfunded - in the prison and probation sector -

 “GMB does not support these services being run by the private sector and calls for all probation services to be brought back in house as soon as possible.”