Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect on prison officer (a) recruitment, (b) retention and (c) morale of his Department’s decision to reject the Prison Service Pay Review Body’s Recommendation 3.

In July 2020, the Government accepted in full six out of seven recommendations made by the Prison Service Pay Review Body. This delivered an increase of at least 2.5% with some staff receiving up to 7% with progression. This delivered an above inflation increase and was the third year in a row that prison staff have benefitted from a pay award of at least 2%.

The Government committed to consider recommendation 3 in more detail due to the affordability challenges a £3,000 uplift posed, and the concern that such a significant increase in pay was out of step with the awards given to other public sector workforces. After careful consideration, the recommendation was ultimately rejected, and this was announced on 10 December 2020.

As part of this decision making, recruitment, retention and staff morale were carefully considered alongside affordability and value for money for the taxpayer. However, recruitment and retention and staff morale levels are all driven by a range of factors and an increase of pay alone cannot be assumed to be a fix for these issues.

It is not possible at this time, particularly during the unique and complex challenges presented by the pandemic, to isolate and quantify the impact of the decision to reject the PSPRB’s ‘recommendation 3’.

I highly value the work of prison staff and the decision to reject ‘recommendation 3’ should in no way suggest otherwise. I remain immensely grateful to the hardworking public servants who are critical to the safe and secure running of our prisons.