Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to Annex A of the written evidence of the Chief Executive of the HM Prison and Probation Service of 21 December 2018 to the Justice Committee inquiry on HMP Birmingham, what the ratio of operational capacity to full-time equivalent band three prison officers at HMP Peterborough was in (a) November 2016, (b) December 2016, (c) August 2018 and (d) November 2018.

The operational capacity of all prisons in England and Wales is provided monthly as part of the regularly published Prison Population statistics. A breakdown of staffing at various grades by establishment is provided as part of the Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service workforce statistics which are published quarterly. This information can be found at the following links;

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

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-offender-management-service-workforce-statistics

Privately-run prisons have different grading systems from public sector establishments. The table below displays the number of Prison Custody Officers (PCOs) at HMP Birmingham and HMP Forest Bank that were included as part of the written evidence of the Chief Executive of HMPPS of 21 December 2018. The other figures in the table represent the number of funded PCO posts at HMP Peterborough and for HMP Birmingham. HM Prison and Probation workforce statistics are not published for privately managed prisons. The Ministry of Justice does not hold staffing numbers or specific points in time, and it is the responsibility of the Contractor to determine and maintain the number of staff necessary to discharge the requirements of the contract and ensure that staff are sufficiently trained to undertake their duties.

The table below shows full-time equivalent band three prison officers for November 2016 at the comparator listed prisons from the written evidence of the Chief Executive of the HM Prison and Probation Service of 21 December 2018.

The following table shows the operational capacity at the requested prisons.

Operators of privately managed prisons are required to deliver sufficient recruitment and training of staff to ensure they maintain a safe, decent and secure prison as per their contractual obligation. The performance of all providers continues to be robustly managed. We will not hesitate to take action if and when standards fall short.