Prison Officers: Length of Service
(asked on 10th March 2026) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an estimate of the cumulative number of years of experience held by prison officers in each year since 2010.
The cumulative length of service, in years, held by public sector band 3-5 prison officers is given in the following table. Figures are given as at 31 December each year.
Table 1 – Cumulative length of service1 of public sector band 3-5 prison officers2 in England and Wales, as at 31 December each year from 2010 to 20253
Date | Number of prison officers in post | Cumulative length of service of these prison officers (Years) |
(Full Time Equivalent) | ||
31/12/2010 | 24,501 | 329,353 |
31/12/2011 | 23,054 | 326,563 |
31/12/2012 | 21,841 | 326,660 |
31/12/2013 | 18,731 | 287,921 |
31/12/2014 | 17,796 | 278,258 |
31/12/2015 | 18,226 | 271,984 |
31/12/2016 | 17,879 | 261,501 |
31/12/2017 | 19,892 | 253,286 |
31/12/2018 | 22,673 | 247,620 |
31/12/2019 | 22,100 | 245,855 |
31/12/2020 | 21,485 | 242,229 |
31/12/2021 | 22,057 | 239,723 |
31/12/2022 | 21,546 | 226,367 |
31/12/2023 | 23,174 | 219,792 |
31/12/2024 | 23,041 | 215,660 |
31/12/2025 | 22,067 | 213,125 |
Notes:
1. The length of service in HMPPS is calculated from most recent hire date. Where staff have transferred in from another Government Department or have transferred in through HMPPS taking over a function, length of service is calculated from entry to HMPPS
2. Band 3-5 Officers includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officers (incl. specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers
3. The dates reflect the Full Time Equivalent and cumulative years of service at that particular point of the year.