Prison Officers

(asked on 24th April 2018) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what target his Department has for the number of full-time equivalent prison officers to be in post in 2020.


Answered by
 Portrait
Rory Stewart
This question was answered on 27th April 2018

As part of the Prison Safety and Reform White Paper published in November 2016, the Government committed to an increase of 2,500 Prison Officers by the end of 2018.

Between the end of October 2016 (the closest data point in time to when the commitment was made) and the end of March 2018, the number of Band 3 to 5 prison officers (headcount) increased from 18,713 to 21,824; a net increase of 3,111.

It is anticipated that 90 per cent of the new recruits will be on the landings by the summer and all of them will be operational by the end of the year.

This will make a real difference to the safety and security of our prisons, ensuring they can fulfil their purpose – protecting the public, reducing reoffending and, crucially, rehabilitating offenders.

Prison governors are now responsible for setting staffing levels for officers at their establishments as a part of annual workforce planning procedures.

The recruitment drive continues and will continue until we reach required levels across the prison estate, with the same urgency that has secured this remarkable influx of new staff.

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