Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what ratio-based calculation is used by his Department to determine the necessary number of prison officers.

During periods of when prisoners are unlocked from their cell, the number of staff on each residential unit will be, in part determined by ‘Safe, Decent and Secure Operating Levels’ (SDSOLs) which are agreed in each establishment. A number of factors influence SDSOLs such as design and size of a residential unit, and specialist function or prisoner cohort.

In addition to the SDSOLs, prison officers are being recruited across England and Wales as part of the Offender Management in Custody model (OMiC) - a vital part of our work to make prisons safer - and to support youth justice reform.

We have invested significantly in increase staff numbers, recruiting an additional 4,366 (full time equivalent) prison officers between October 2016 and June 2019, surpassing our original target of 2,500. The majority of newly recruited prison officers are already on the landings and the recruitment drive will continue until we reach required levels across the prison estate, ensuring prisons can fulfil their purpose - protecting the public, rehabilitating offenders and crucially, reducing reoffending.