Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of prison officer salaries given the levels of (a) risk and (b) stress of this role.

Prison Service staff are some of our finest public servants. Despite their hard work, the Prison Service has been under immense pressure due to an increasing population and ageing estate.

One of the first things this Government did upon coming into office was to accept the independent recommendations of the Prison Service Pay Review Body in full. This delivered a pay rise of 5% for Band 3-5 Prison Officers on modernised terms and conditions. This brings the starting salary for an entry level officer (on the national rate, 39 hours with unsocial hours) from £32,851 to £34,494.

Given the challenges of working in a prison, we provide extensive mental health support, including a 24-hour helpline, confidential counselling, and online wellbeing services. Our Trauma Risk Management practitioners and Care Teams provide further support following any incidents while on duty.