Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the prison officer to prisoner ratio is for prisons outsourced to the private sector.

Regularly updated statistics on the prison population can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-population-figures-2018

HM Prison and Probation workforce statistics are not published for privately managed prisons. This table displays the number of funded posts for Prison Custody Officers at each privately managed prison as of July 2018.

Prison officer numbers are at their highest in five years, which is vital to ensuring prisons are safe, secure and decent. We have recruited over 3,000 new prison officers across the country in the last 18 months to improve safety and help turn offenders’ lives around. The recruitment drive will continue until we reach required levels across the prison estate, ensuring prisons can fulfil their purpose - protecting the public, reducing reoffending and crucially, rehabilitating offenders.