Governor of Woodhill Prison, Luke Serjeant, visits MKGU Club
President Alan Tranfield (left) with Luke Serjeant, Governor of Woodhill Prison
Luke Serjeant, Governor of Woodhill Prison in
Milton Keynes, gave a presentation of his life and work to a breakfast meeting
of the Milton Keynes Grand Union club in September 2006.
It was almost by accident that Luke joined the Prison Service, having first obtained degrees in Town Planning. Luke decided that this was not the correct career path for him so he decided to apply for the post of Assistant Governor in the Service. Initially he was declined and not short-listed, but within days was invited to an extended interview and was eventually appointed.
Being new to the service he had to serve a one year period as a Prison Officer before being offered his first substantial post as Assistant Governor at Wormwood Scrubs. There followed a period in an Open Prison in Wales and in January this year he was appointed to the post of Governor of the Category A prison at Woodhill in Milton Keynes.
This appointment followed a particularly bad report from the Prison Inspectorate and clearly there were a number of issues to be addressed both for the staff and the inmates.
Woodhill is a complex prison having a number of different categories of prisoner from seriously dangerous inmates to juveniles, all of which require different degrees of supervision. Since Woodhill is a remand prison for much of the South of England, the escorting of prisoners is a potentially disruptive part of prison life.
Very short notice is given to be required to house serious offenders such as suspected terrorists and the prison is required to make the necessary adjustments to accommodate whoever is allocated.
Luke welcomed the opportunity to address the breakfast meeting because one of the main issues is the integration of released prisoners back into the community. Unless they can be re-housed and obtain some employment the likelihood of them re-offending is great. The hope is that some of the members may be in a position to support some of those convicted prisoners when they are released.