Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of staffing levels across the prison estate.

We know that sufficient and skilled frontline staffing is fundamental to delivering safe, secure and rehabilitative prison regimes. The number of band 3-5 prison officers in post against Target Staffing Levels (the number of staff required to run an optimal regime in each prison) is published quarterly as part of the Annex to the “HM Prison and Probation Service Workforce Statistics” publication. The latest data can be found in Table 4 of this spreadsheet: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a0dbed3faac4bc0b0e906ad/annex-prison-and-probation-officer-recruitment-Mar-2026_final.ods.

HMPPS is operating in a competitive labour market, with some more acute challenges in certain areas of the country and parts of the estate. We are committed to ensuring prisons are sufficiently resourced – with work to prioritise vetting and online assessment centre places at prisons with the greatest operational need.

A new values-based assessment launched on 29 April 2026. This is underpinned by HMPPS values and designed to support new starter retention and engagement by providing a realistic view of what the organisation expects. HMPPS continually reviews its recruitment, onboarding and vetting processes to improve efficiency and reduce unnecessary delays while maintaining the high standards required for public protection and operational security.

We are recruiting and focusing additional support on prisons with the greatest need. This includes our First Deployment Scheme, which recruits applicants to difficult-to-recruit-to prisons with a financial incentive, our Prison Officer Alumni Scheme, fast-tracking former officers back into the service, and increasing the frequency of our Operation Support Grade to Prison Officer Fast Track Scheme to twice a year.

The number of prison officer leavers in each year is also published quarterly as part of the “HM Prison and Probation Service Workforce Statistics” publication. The latest data for prison officer leavers from the 12 months to 31 March 2020 to the 12 months to 31 March 2026 can be found in Table 8c of this spreadsheet: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a0d90f1faac4bc0b0e90635/hmpps-workforce-statistics-tables-mar-2026_final.ods.

As of March 2026, the resignation rate for band 3-5 prison officers was the lowest it has been in the last five years.