Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers in England and Wales have retired (a) at and (b) before the age of 60 for health reasons in each of the last three years.

Her Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) is committed to ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing of its staff, and recognises that prison staff have to work in sometimes difficult conditions. HMPPS continuously monitors and re-assesses the support and interventions in place for staff and changed its delivery model for employee assistance services (EAP) in 2017. The new EAP model has significantly enhanced access to the support available to staff, and includes specialist Trauma Support and a manager’s helpline. The model also enables staff to self-refer for counselling by calling the 24 hour helpline.

The latest set of HMPPS workforce statistics covering the period to 31 December 2017 is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/her-majestys-prison-and-probation-service-workforce-quarterly-december-2017.

The number of band 3-5 prison officers in England and Wales who have retired (i) before 60 and (ii) at 60 is recorded in table 11b which is available at the link above.