CIVIL servants at the Department of Justice have taken the unusual step of issuing a statement on their own behalf, welcoming the Government's plane for an independent prisons board, writes John Maher, Drugs and Crime Correspondent.

Normally Department statements are issued on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen. But yesterday a Department spokeswoman said this was not a statement from the Minister. She said it was "a statement from the Department".

The statement said the Department was "delighted to learn that the proposal to reorganise prison management and establish an independent board to take charge of this task has been approved by the Government. Contrary to media and other speculation the Department has formally supported this proposal long before now and has publicly acknowledged the virtual impossibility of running the prison service with existing administrative resources.