Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of changing the rules to allow prison officers who retire after failing their annual physical fitness test to receive their full pension.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Prison officers are members of the Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS), for which the policy is owned by HM Treasury and applied to the scheme by Cabinet Office.
Like all public sector pension schemes, a member of the CSPS can consider taking retirement at any time after reaching the age of 55 (increases to 57 from 2028).
If there is an underlying medical condition which significantly impacts a prison officer from carrying out their role, they may be considered for Ill Health Retirement.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment she has made of the appropriateness of the retirement age for prison officers given the (a) mental and (b) physical health challenges of the role.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We recognise the unique and challenging role that prison officers play in protecting the public and reducing reoffending. The Lord Chancellor has requested advice from officials on the pension age of prison officers, and we will continue to engage with trade unions as this is considered.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of reducing the retirement age for prison officers in line with (a) police officers and (b) firefighters.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We recognise the unique and challenging role that prison officers play in protecting the public and reducing reoffending. The Lord Chancellor has requested advice from officials on the pension age of prison officers, and we will continue to engage with trade unions as this is considered.
Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department has plans to lower the prison officer retirement age.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Prison officers are members of the Civil Service Pension scheme (CSPS), and the normal pension age (at which unreduced benefits can be taken) is linked to their state pension age.
We recognise the unique and challenging role that prison officers play in protecting the public and reducing reoffending. The Lord Chancellor has requested advice from officials on the pension age of prison officers, and we will continue to engage with trade unions as this is considered.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on restarting negotiations with the Prison Officers Association over the pension age of prison officers.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The pension age in all public sector pension schemes is set under legislation by HM Treasury, and the merits of any review in pension age would be for them to consider. The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice is committed to listening and working with officers, staff and trade unions, and Ministers will continue to meet with the Prison Officer’s Association and other unions to discuss a range of issues. We highly value our hardworking prison officers and take very seriously the safety of all staff working within prisons, whatever their age.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2023 to Question 197911 on Prison Officers: Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of reducing the pension age of prison officers to 60.
Answered by John Glen
The Government values hardworking prison officers and has recently accepted the recommendations of the Prison Service Pay Review Body (PSPRB) for 2023/24 in full. Normal Pension Age in the civil service alpha scheme is set at a member’s State Pension age, and the Government notes the concerns raised in this regard by workforce representatives.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of reducing the pension age of prison officers to 60.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The pension age in all public sector pension schemes is set under legislation by HM Treasury and the merits of any review in aspects of the pension scheme, including pension age, would be for them to consider. I am committed to listening to and working with officers, staff and trade unions and I continue to meet with the Prison Officer’s Association and other unions to discuss a range of issues, including pensions. We highly value our hardworking prison officers and take very seriously the safety of all staff working within prisons, whatever their age. The Ministry of Justice continues to review and roll out new safety equipment and provide new skills to prison officers to deal with challenging situations and reduce the risk of assault.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 18 May 2023 to Question 184944, Prison Service: Dismissal, what proportion of prison staff aged 60 or over were dismissed from service because of medical inefficiency in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Information on the proportion of staff, aged 60 and over in HM Prisons (including YCS) who left for reasons of ‘Dismissal - Unsatisfactory attendance’ or ‘Dismissal - Medical Inefficiency’ is given in the table below. Between January 2017 and December 2019, cases of ‘Dismissal - Medical Inefficiency’ were recorded as ‘Dismissal - Unsatisfactory attendance’ on our internal reporting system, and so these have been combined in the response throughout the time series.
Table 1: Proportion of prison staff aged 60+1 who were dismissed due to medical inefficiency/unsatisfactory attendance2, from 01 April to 31 March; 2013/14 to 2022/23 |
(headcount)
Financial Year | Proportion of prison staff aged 60+ dismissed due to medical inefficiency/unsatisfactory attendance |
2013/14 | 1.7% |
2014/15 | 2.1% |
2015/16 | 1.8% |
2016/17 | 2.1% |
2017/18 | 1.0% |
2018/19 | 1.3% |
2019/20 | 1.8% |
2020/21 | 1.2% |
2021/22 | 1.5% |
2022/23 | 2.3% |
Notes
1. Age as at time of leaving
2. From January 2017 to December 2019, information regarding dismissals as a result of medical inefficiencies were recorded as unsatisfactory attendances. Therefore, these categories have been combined here throughout the timeseries.
Prison officers are part of the Civil Service Pension Scheme which has a pension age linked to the individuals state pensions age – this is between 65 and 68 depending on their date of birth. This is the same for HMPPS in England and Wales as it is for the Scottish Prison Service.
This is a defined benefit scheme which pays a pension for life without investment uncertainties. It has one of the lower employee contribution rates across the public sector, whilst employer contributions are 27%
Whilst the fire and police service pensions have a lower retirement age of 60, members of these schemes pay between 12% and 14% contributions, whereas prison officers pay only 5.45%
HMPPS takes very seriously the health and safety of all prison staff – whatever their age. All prison officers who joined the service after April 2001 must pass an annual fitness test in order to remain a prison officer.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 18 May 2023 to Question 184942, Prison Service: Early Retirement, what proportion of prison staff aged 60 or over retired due to (a) ill health and (b) injury in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Information on the proportion of prison staff aged 60 and over who left HMPPS due to ‘ill health retirement’ is given in the following table. Figures are presented annually for the last ten years.
There is not a specific, centrally held, leaving reason for ‘injury’ and so this part cannot be answered.
The data provided relates to headcount and not FTE.
Table 1: Proportion of prison staff aged 60+1 who retired due to ill health2, from 01 April to 31 March; 2013/14 to 2022/23
Financial Year | Proportion of prison staff aged 60+ who retired due to ill health | Proportion of retiring prison staff 60+ who retired due to ill health |
2013/14 | 0.10% | 0.57% |
2014/15 | 0.00% | 0.00% |
2015/16 | 0.00% | 0.00% |
2016/17 | ~ | ~ |
2017/18 | 0.20% | 1.28% |
2018/19 | 0.20% | 1.65% |
2019/20 | 0.30% | 2.54% |
2020/21 | 0.20% | 1.98% |
2021/22 | ~ | ~ |
2022/23 | 0.40% | 3.34% |
Notes
1. Age as at time of leaving.
2. Includes the following reasons for leaving: 'Retirement: Medical', 'Retirement: Ill Health Retirement', 'Retirement: Ill Health Tier 1', 'Retirement: Ill Health Tier 2', 'Retirement: Ill Health Tier 3'.
~ denotes suppressed values of 2 or fewer or other values which would allow values of 2 or fewer to be derived by subtraction. Low numbers are suppressed to prevent disclosure in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 2018.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential (a) impact of the prison officer retirement age on safety in prisons and (b) merits of aligning the retirement age of prison officers with police officers.
Answered by Damian Hinds
We highly value our hardworking prison officers and take very seriously the safety of all staff working within prisons, whatever their age. The Ministry continues to review and roll out new safety equipment and provide new skills to prison officers to deal with challenging situations and reduce the risk of assault.
The pension age in all public sector pension schemes is set under legislation by HM Treasury and the merits of any review in pension age would be for them to consider. I am committed to listening to and working with officers, staff and trade unions on a range of issues.