Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government when the positions at the Prison and Probation Service of (1) Director General Chief Executive Officer, (2) Director General of Operations, and (3) Chief Operating Officer Prisons, were most recently vacant; how long those positions have been vacant or filled on an interim basis over the past three years; whether each of those vacancies has been filled internally or externally; and whether all of those vacancies have been advertised externally.

Over three years ago, Amy Rees CB was appointed Director General CEO of HIs Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS); Phil Copple CB was appointed Director General of Operations; and Michelle Jarman-Howe CBE was appointed Chief Operating Officer for Prisons. In April 2025, Amy Rees was temporarily appointed to the role of interim Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice while a selection process for the Permanent Secretary post took place.

This necessitated a number of consequential interim appointments, on a temporary basis, in HMPPS. Phil Copple was identified through succession planning to be the interim CEO; the Chief Operating Officer for Prisons, Michelle Jarman-Howe, was identified to be the interim Director General of Operations; and the Area Executive Director for London, Sarah Coccia, was identified to be the interim Chief Operating Officer for Prisons.

In September 2025, following the appointment of a new Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Justice, Amy Rees left the Department to take up the post of Chief Executive of Homes England. The Senior Leadership Committee (SLC), a cross-Government governance board led by the Cabinet Office responsible for approving senior appointments, confirmed James McEwen, Director General and Chief Operating Officer at the Ministry of Justice, as the permanent successor to the HMPPS CEO role in a managed move. He will formally take up the post in October 2025.