Island's prisons will not go the same way as most past studies have -- straight on the shelf.

The review, to be carried out by a British Foreign Office prisons expert, may well bring some fresh thinking and new ideas to the table which will help make the prisons more productive and effective than they are now.

But many people will also agree with Shadow Home Affairs Minister Michael Dunkley, who has noted that enough studies have been done and now is the time for action.

Ms Cox herself said on Friday: "Over the years there has been a sense of frustration about staffing failures and past failures to implement past studies and reviews of the Prison Service.

"This Government recognises the shortcomings in the Prison Service and we're determined to do something about it.'' That is good news. But she needs to recognise that the complaints being made now by the prison officers are pretty much the same ones that have been made for nearly a decade now and many of the answers may well already be in Government's files.

In the last decade, two major reviews of the prison service took place. One was conducted by UK Inspector of Prisons Judge Stephen Tumim as part of his inquiry into the criminal justice system. Although it dealt more with the problems confronting the Police and the courts, it also examined the prisons.

The second was conducted in 1996 by the Department of Management Services in conjunction with Canadian consulting firm Process Reengineering & Environmental Consultants (PRET) which focused on prison staffing.

Some of PRET's recommendations -- such as the use of video-conferencing for remand prisoners due to appear for mention in court in Hamilton -- have never been implemented.

Before Ms Cox goes full-bore into a new review, she would be wise to dust off these reports to see which recommendations have not yet been put in place and which are still viable.

It may save the conductors of the review and the Government time and the taxpayer money.

One aspect of the review that is welcome is Ms Cox's intention to involve the rank and file prison officers with the study.

Reform of the prison administration will only take place if the officers who work the shifts are really a part of it.

Ms Cox and the Prison Officers Association executive are reported to have had a productive meeting on Saturday. Now the officers have to show good faith now and get back to their full duties.