Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the base salary and salary progression of a probation officer and its impact on officer retention.

In April 2021, we published the first national Recruitment and Retention Strategy for the Probation Service, which identified several key areas of focus. The Strategy aims to address recruitment and retention challenges within the Probation Service.

We have identified common drivers of attrition across those regions where it is more challenging to recruit and retain probation officers.

We remain committed to developing a fair and enduring reward package for all Probation Service staff and hope to do so through agreement of a multi-year deal.

In recent years we have raised starting salaries for many of our workforce, including probation officers, improving our offer for new entrants.