Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many probation officers have been recruited since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Between 5 July 2024 and 30 September 2025, 55 qualified Band 4 probation officers joined HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). This figure reflects only those who already held the required qualification at the point of appointment.
The majority of Band 4 probation officers join HMPPS as trainees and qualify within the Department, rather than being recruited directly into Band 4 roles.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers have been recruited since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
There have been 2,623 Band 3–5 prison officers who joined HMPPS between 5 July 2024 and 30 September 2025.
This data only covers Public Sector Prison establishments in England and does not include Private Sector Prison establishments.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, how many stab proof vests have been issued to frontline officers following the announcement by the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice about prison staff safety on 21 September 2025.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The volume of body armour required for all prison officers in the Long-Term and High-Security Estate represents a significant undertaking. Our priority is to ensure that we continue to provide the most appropriate and effective protective equipment as swiftly as possible. We are currently preparing for further procurement and delivery. This work is progressing at pace, and we expect to begin implementation across the estate during 2026.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the announcement by the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice about prison staff safety on 21 September 2025, how many of the 5,000 stab proof vests for staff working in high security prisons have been issued.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The volume of body armour required for all prison officers in the Long-Term and High-Security Estate represents a significant undertaking. Our priority is to ensure that we continue to provide the most appropriate and effective protective equipment as swiftly as possible. We are currently preparing for further procurement and delivery. This work is progressing at pace, and we expect to begin implementation across the estate during 2026.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the announcement by the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice about prison staff safety on 21 September 2025, how many prison officers are trained to use tasers.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
On 21 September, the Deputy Prime Minister announced that 500 prison-based staff would be trained and equipped to use Taser devices as part of a wider effort to enhance safety across the prison estate. We currently have 25 specially trained officers who work within the Operational Response and Resilience Teams. At present, no frontline officers are trained in the use of Tasers.
Delivering this capability is a significant undertaking: work to train and equip additional officers is in progress.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to increase the number of probation officers.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Government recognises the vital role probation officers play in protecting the public and reducing reoffending. Recruitment and retention continue to be a priority and through these efforts we are starting to see the positive impact of a centralised recruitment process as a large number of qualified probation officers come through the pipeline.
In 2024/25, we exceeded our commitment to onboard 1,000 trainee probation officers, successfully onboarding 1,057. We are now going further, having committed to onboard a total of 1,300 trainee probation officers in 2025/26. Probation officer numbers have increased over both the last quarter and the last year. The Professional Qualification in Probation (PQiP) 20 recruitment campaign, which went live on the 19th of January, will further support our efforts to maintain strong recruitment momentum and sustain the pipeline of future probation officers.
A retention toolkit has been developed, informed by research into the drivers of attrition. This toolkit supports local, regional, and national interventions and is used alongside structured exit interviews which were introduced to gather feedback and shape future actions. It is positive that we are seeing a continued reduction in Probation Service attrition.
Both probation officer numbers in post and leaving rates can be found at HM Prison and Probation Service workforce quarterly: September 2025 - GOV.UK
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to his Department's press release entitled Battlefield tactics to inspire UK fight against prison drones, published on 16 January 2026, what proportion of the 1,712 drone incidents referenced resulted in prison officers intercepting and seizing contraband.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We publish the number of drone incidents in prisons in England and Wales in the HMPPS Annual Digest. Data specific to the recoveries of illicit items cannot be disclosed for security reasons.
We are working hard to deter, detect and disrupt the use of drones to deliver contraband into prisons, which poses a major threat to prison security. In this 2025-26 financial year, we are investing over £40 million in physical security across 34 prisons. This includes circa £10 million on anti-drone measures such as secure windows and robust netting at 15 prisons.
Our approach is multi-faceted and includes physical security countermeasures, legislation, and working closely across Government, with law enforcement, the private sector, and international partners on this global issue. Due to operational sensitives, we are not able to discuss in detail the tactics used, as that would aid those seeking to exploit prison security.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to assure the safety of people working in the prison education service.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice and HMPPS has zero tolerance for violence against prison officers and prison staff, including those who work in prison education.
The Education Provider is required to abide by all prison risk assessments and safe systems of work put in place by the Governor to ensure appropriate staff safety. Education Providers have a further responsibility to ensure that all staff are properly trained and carry out their duties in line with Health and Safety Policies, and are required to work with the Governor, including participating in Risk Assessment processes where necessary. There are established routes for escalation of any Safety issues for resolution.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many public sector workers have received an above-inflation pay rise in Washington and Gateshead South constituency since 5 July 2024.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
We value all our public sector workers, and pay awards reflect the important work that our nurses, teachers, doctors, prison officers and soldiers do to keep the country running.
The overwhelming majority of awards announced in 2025/26, including for all of the above workforces, announced are above the OBR’s forecast for CPI inflation over the 2025/26 pay year.
Whilst I cannot confirm the number of public sector workers in the Washington and Gateshead South constituency in receipt of those pay awards, all those workers set out above will benefit from the above inflation pay uplift.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to protect women and girls from violent offenders who have been released.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This Government was elected with a landmark mission: to halve violence against women and girls within a decade. The ‘Freedom from violence and abuse: a cross-government strategy’ sets out stronger perpetrator management, including the commitment to nationally rollout Domestic Abuse Protection Orders across all police forces in England and Wales, which is critical in meeting this government ambition.
The Probation Service robustly manages offenders released from custody with a range of tools in the community and can respond to any breaches of licence with recall to prison where appropriate. The Sentencing Bill strengthens this by giving new powers to Probation to prohibit offenders from driving, attending public events and entering pubs, clubs and bars. It also introduces restriction zones, which will limit the movements of serious sexual and violent offenders to a specific geographical area, where appropriate, giving victims the peace of mind they deserve.
Further, regarding Electronic Monitoring (EM), the Domestic Abuse Perpetrators on Licence (DAPOL) pilot operates across eight probation regions, allowing Probation Practitioners to impose electronically monitored licence conditions on eligible prison leavers at the point of release from custody where necessary and proportionate. Conditions may include curfews, exclusion zones, required attendance at specified appointments, and GPS trail monitoring, with multiple applied risk assessments support it. DAPOL can also run alongside Alcohol Monitoring on Licence (AML) where alcohol misuse is linked to risk. Evaluation findings indicate that DAPOL provides reassurance to victims, with Victim Liaison Officers reporting that the ability to evidence breaches quickly helps reduce victim anxiety and strengthens confidence in the justice system.