Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the ratio of prisoners to prison officers was in each prison in England in each year from 2006.

The prison population by establishment and the number of prison officers (Band 3 – 5) for each public sector prison in England and Wales are published on gov.uk.

As data are only published on staffing levels from June 2013, the attached spreadsheet provides staffing data as at March of each year for the period 2006 to 2013. Ratios can be calculated from these published figures.

We are committed to transforming prisons into places of safety and reform and we’ve announced a major overhaul of the prison system including 2,500 extra frontline officers.

As an immediate action we have already invested £14 million to provide more than 400 extra staff in ten of the most challenging prisons.

We are also introducing a new scheme to attract top graduates and former servicemen and women into the service, and giving governors greater flexibility over recruitment so they can address staffing quickly.