title: Scottish Prison Officers' Association
text: # Scottish Prison Officers' Association
  
  The Scottish Prison Officers' Association (SPOA) was the only official trade union representing operational prison staff in Scotland.
  
  The union was founded in 1971, when the Scottish section of the Prison Officers' Association (POA) decided to split away. It affiliated to both the Trades Union Congress and the Scottish Trades Union Congress, and by 1980 had 2,344 members.
  
  For some years, the union was led by William Goodall, who was himself imprisoned for embezzling a death benefit due to one of its deceased member's families. In 2000, the union merged back in to the POA.
  
  ## General Secretaries
  
      1971: John Renton
      1989: William Goodall
      1990s: Derek Turner
  