Prison and Probation Service: Staff

(asked on 14th March 2022) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent equality analysis his Department has made of the HMPPS staff fitness test.


Answered by
Tom Pursglove Portrait
Tom Pursglove
Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
This question was answered on 17th March 2022

There are many factors which determine a person’s ability to pass a fitness test which are often not determined by age, sex or gender alone. Prison officers need to be capable of performing specific tasks to a certain standard to ensure their safety and the safety of everyone else, including prisoners and work colleagues. No adjustment to the fitness test is made based on age, sex or gender because they are not the determining factor on passing the test and fitness levels between employees of either sex or gender at all ages can vary. Adjustments are considered and may be offered on the advice of an occupational health practitioner.

From the restart of fitness testing on 26/07/2021 to 28/02/2022 there have been a total of 502 test fails:

1st test fails

2nd test fails

3rd test fails

Male

202

10

0

Female

265

25

0

From the restart of fitness testing on 26/07/2021 to 28/02/2022 there have been a total of 14,488 fitness tests undertaken:

Number of tests

%

Male

11,170

77

Female

3,318

23

Staff who do not meet the annual fitness test standard will be provided with advice and support by a fitness assessor on achieving and maintaining the required fitness level to pass their fitness test. The new HMPPS policy allows employees suffering from any specific side effects related to the menopause an opportunity to postpone the test for a limited period whilst the side effects subside. The deferred test would need to be completed within a 3-6-month period of the originally scheduled test and the employee would be expected to take the test at the next opportunity. If they are still unable to take the test due to significant medical symptoms, a referral to Occupational Health (OH) should be made to advise on adjustments if appropriate and a GP referral may be required. HMPPS is commissioning further specialist medical advice to ensure the Equality Assessment for Fitness Testing remains valid, and to consider what further support can be offered to menopausal staff in general and specifically in relation to the fitness test.

Reticulating Splines