Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what comparative assessment he has made of the average amount of time taken for (a) probation officers and (b) other public sector employees to reach the top of the pay scale.

Our probation staff do a vital and challenging job reforming offenders and protecting the public.

In 2017, HMPPS benchmarked the pay ranges within the NPS and found them appropriate and in alignment with other public sector workforces. The time taken for new staff to reach the top of their probation pay scale is judged against them acquiring the unique and necessary skills and competencies to be a proficient probation officer. This is not comparable to the time taken to progress in other public sector roles.