Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many job vacancies there were in the Secure Youth Estate at 30 January 2024.

The following table provides information relating to staff in the Youth Custody Service who are directly employed by H M Prison & Probation Service. This comprises operational and administrative staff at public sector young offender institutions, plus headquarters staff:

Staffing data for HMYOI Parc, Secure Training Centre and Secure Children’s Homes is not included in this data.

To boost retention levels and reduce vacancies, YCS continue to focus on staff recruitment and retention. Retention support is being provided at Feltham A and Cookham Wood to address attrition. As part of the HMPPS retention oversight process, all establishments have a Retention Action Plan in place. These plans focus improvement on areas identified by staff in exit interviews, when asked to explain their decision to leave the Youth Custody Service (YCS). Additionally, in response to exit interview data, the YCS has reviewed advertising and recruitment material, to increase attraction.

We have increased national recruitment of Prison Officers and Youth Justice staff through a dedicated national campaign and new marketing and are engaged in national campaigns to increase attraction to administrative roles.

To further increase retention levels and reduce vacancies, the YCS has commissioned a staffing resource review across all four public sector YOIs. This includes assessing the balance of management and frontline staff. Feltham A has been completed and a delivery plan will be implemented this Spring (impacts will be closely evaluated). Cookham Wood YOI will be the next site subject to review commencing in early 2024, followed by the remaining public YOIs.