Urgently include occupation code 3314 (Prison Officers) in the Immigration Salary List to help enable sponsorship for recently recruited Prison officers to ensure staff retention and avert further staffing crisis for prisons.
Recruitment and retention of Prison Officers has been a serious challenge and poor staffing levels poses high safety risk for staff and prisoners. Skilled worker visa has been a useful tool for retaining prison officers recruited from Commonwealth countries to fill the staffing gaps, including prisons where recruitment and retention is problematic. Recent changes to the Skilled worker visa eligibility requirements will make many prison officers ineligible for the visa.