Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what was the cost to the public purse of recruitment processes for Prison Officers in each of the last 10 years.

The delivery model for prison officer recruitment in the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and formerly, the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), has changed several times since 2013 to align with business need. This has spanned local, regional, and centralised management of campaigns, as well as the current blended approach of central and local management, with recruitment costs delegated across roles in individual prisons, regional delivery areas, centralised teams, and contracted suppliers.

Therefore, we do not hold complete figures in each year since 2013 as this information is held in a number of different areas and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The estimated cost to recruit and train a new Band 3 Prison Officer is around £13,000 as published in the Prison Service Pay Review Body 2021 report. Further information can be found on page 55 at: Prison Service Pay Review Body - Twentieth Report on England and Wales 2021 (publishing.service.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab).

Please be aware that the figures contained in the document are subject to regular change due to a number of variables and assumptions used to calculate the figures.