Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential effect of raising the retirement age of prison officers to 68 on the (a) recruitment, (b) retention, (c) safety and (d) morale of prison officers.

We highly value our hardworking prison staff and offer access to medical professionals and an employee assistance programme to ensure continued physical and mental wellbeing. There are currently no plans for Cabinet Office to review the retirement age of prison officers within the Civil Service Pension Scheme.