Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the employee (a) vacancy and (b) turnover rates were at HMP Hewell in each of the last five years by (i) prison staff and (ii) prison officers.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The latest published workforce statistics for HM Prison & Probation Service cover the period up to 30 September 2025 and contain figures for the last five years for working days lost, average staff and average working days lost for each public sector prison and for different grades, but not by prison and grade combined. The published figures are for the 12 months to 31 March each year and latest figures are for the 12 months to 30 September 2025. These figures for HMP Hewell, split by band 3-5 prison officers and other prison staff, are given in the table below.
Working days lost to sickness absence, for HMP Hewell, by band 3-5 prison officers and other staff – for 12 months to 31 March 2021 to 2025 and for 12 months to 30 September 2025.
(Full Time Equivalent)
12 months to given date | Band 3-5 prison officers1 | Other prison staff | All staff at HMP Hewell |
31-Mar-21 | 4,344 | 2,189 | 6,532 |
31-Mar-22 | 4,392 | 2,677 | 7,069 |
31-Mar-23 | 3,706 | 2,158 | 5,864 |
31-Mar-24 | 3,801 | 2,266 | 6,067 |
31-Mar-25 | 4,701 | 2,103 | 6,803 |
30-Sep-252 | 5,073 | 2,736 | 7,809 |
|
|
|
|
Notes
A comparison between target staffing levels and staff in post can be found in the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/691da96221ef5aaa6543ef83/annex-prison-and-probation-officer-recruitment-Sep-2025_final.ods.
Internal management information has long been used for workforce planning to monitor vacancies and other resource monitoring purposes. However, target staffing and parallel staff in post data has only been produced for the purpose of official statistics for the last few years. As a result, the full historic time series is not available in a consistent format for the grade breakdowns requested.
Turnover rates1 at HMP Hewell for (i) band 3-5 officers2 and (ii) all other prison staff, in the 12 months to 31 March 2021-2025 and in the 12 months to 30 September 2025
12 months to given date | Band 3-5 prison officers (%) | Other prison staff (%) | All staff at HMP Hewell (%) |
31-Mar-21 | 13.6 | 11.9 | 12.9 |
31-Mar-22 | 14.4 | 9.8 | 12.6 |
31-Mar-23 | 15.0 | 11.7 | 14.0 |
31-Mar-24 | 14.2 | 8.0 | 11.6 |
31-Mar-25 | 13.8 | 10.4 | 12.4 |
30-Sep-25 | 14.6 | 8.9 | 12.2 |
Notes:
1. Turnover rates include all reasons for leaving and include both permanent and temporary staff.
2. Band 3-5 officers include: Bands 3-4 / Prison Officer (incl. specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officer and Band 5 / Custodial Managers
3. As with all HR databases, extracts are taken at a fixed point in time and is dependent on staff completing the details correctly. The database itself is dynamic and where updates to the database are made late, subsequent to the taking of the extract, or are incorrect then these updates will not be reflected in figures produced by the extract. For this reason, HR data are unlikely to be precisely accurate and may not match local data.
Figures relating to the most recent 12 months are provisional, and may be subject to change in the future.
Asked by: Seamus Logan (Scottish National Party - Aberdeenshire North and Moray East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of reducing the pension age of prison officers on levels of staff retention.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We have seen an improving picture on retention nationally – with resignation rates at their lowest level for four years for Band 3-5 prison officers.
We recognise that pension age is an important issue for frontline staff and our recognised trade unions. Ministers regularly engage with the POA and the Deputy Prime Minister is due to meet with the POA early in the new year.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total cost was of (a) settlement agreements and (b) special severance payments made to departing staff in his Department in the last year.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
For the last financial year, the total cost to the Ministry of Justice of payments associated with settlement agreements is set out in Annual Report and Accounts. Where relevant, this includes special severance payments that have associated settlement agreements.
Asked by: Robert Jenrick (Conservative - Newark)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on what dates he has officially visited HMP Chelmsford since his appointment; and whether he has met with the Governor to discuss the recent mistaken release.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Deputy Prime Minister met with the Governor of HMP Chelmsford on 24 October, the same day as the release in error of Hadush Kebatu. The Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending is planning to visit HMP Chelmsford in the coming months.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will review the cost of leasehold tribunal applications.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Most leasehold applications currently attract an application fee of £114. Fees for leasehold applications to the First-tier Tribunal of the Property Chamber are set at levels which recover only part of the cost of the service.
The Government is committed to protecting leaseholders from disproportionate litigation costs. On 26 September 2025, the Government concluded a consultation with proposals to establish exemptions for landlords from seeking tribunal approval to recover litigation costs, permitting temporary suspension of this requirement for specified landlords, and defining the categories of cases in which leaseholders may apply to recover their own litigation costs. The Government is currently analysing responses and will publish the outcome in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many drug related incidents were recorded in prisons in each of the past five years, including instances of possession, supply and related violence.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We publish the number of drugs finds in prisons in England and Wales in the HMPPS Annual Digest. Please see table 6.1 in the Finds tables and the Finds in Prison – Find Incidents data tool. The latest issue covers the 12-month period to March 2025, with a time series of drug finds starting from the 12-months to March 2007.
The HMPPS Annual Digest reports the number of drug find incidents rather than the overall number of drug related incidents. Any increase in finds should not be interpreted as an increase in drug related activity. Higher figures may reflect more items being found, rather than more items being present in prisons. Data relating to drug related incidents more generally could only be provided at disproportionate cost and data specific to instances of possession, supply and related violence cannot be disclosed for security reasons.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede on 18 November 2024 (HL2243), whether they have carried out a risk assessment relating to e-bikes on His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service premises; and if so, what were the dates of the surveys for that risk assessment, and whether they will place a copy of those surveys in the Library of the House.
Answered by Baroness Levitt - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Risk-assessment surveys have been conducted at sites where there has been a request to store an e-bike. To date, ten sites have been surveyed, with Brighton Family Court deemed suitable to store e-bikes.
The list of sites surveyed are as follows:
The surveys contain sensitive site-related security information which we do not routinely publish and, as a result, copies will not be placed in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect the second part of Lord Leveson's Independent Review of the Criminal Courts to be published.
Answered by Baroness Levitt - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Part two of the Independent Review into Criminal Courts is considering how the criminal courts can operate as efficiently as possible, specifically looking at the efficiency and timeliness of processes. We expect to receive Sir Brian's report on court efficiency early next year.
We will consider his recommendations in full and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Robert Jenrick (Conservative - Newark)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on what dates he has officially visited HMP Wandsworth since his appointment; and whether he has met with the Governor to discuss the recent mistaken release.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending is planning to visit HMP Wandsworth in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many prison-based staff are (1) trained, and (2) equipped, 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, and currently we have 20 trained national specialist officers.
Delivering this capability is a significant undertaking: work to train and equip these officers is in progress.