Oral Answers to Questions

Alan Mak Excerpts

Tuesday 24th April 2018 Commons Chamber

[Craig Tracey (North Warwickshire) (Con)]

3. What progress his Department is making on recruiting 2,500 new prison officers.

[Alan Mak (Havant) (Con)]

6. What progress his Department is making on recruiting 2,500 new prison officers.

[The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Mr David Gauke)]

Retaining and recruiting engaged and motivated staff is critical to delivering the solutions to drive improvement across the service. Between the end of October 2016 and the end of March 2018, we have increased prison officer numbers by 3,111 full-time equivalent staff. This is already significantly over our target of 2,500 additional staff by the end of December 2018. Investing in the frontline is vital for safety, rehabilitation and security, which is why we are spending £100 million a year in additional prison officers.[Official Report, 1 May 2018, Vol. 640, c. 1MC.]

--- Later in debate ---

[Alan Mak]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his answer. Will he update the House on the progress being made towards the new key worker model and the impact it is having on prison officer recruitment?

[Mr Gauke]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise that point. The key worker model is crucial. It will allow prison officers to spend more time, both on a one-to-one basis and with small groups of prisoners, improving staff-prisoner relationships. That can help us reduce both violence and reoffending. Some prisons, such as HMP Liverpool, are already running that scheme, and I look forward to more prisons fully implementing that over the months ahead.