Prison Officers: Vacancies

(asked on 8th November 2023) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officer positions were vacant in (a) June, (b) July, (c) August, (d) September and (e) October 2023.


Answered by
Edward Argar Portrait
Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This question was answered on 17th November 2023

Total Band 3-5 Prison Officer indicative vacancies (FTE) across Public Sector Prison Establishments in England & Wales, June 2023

Month

Indicative vacancies (FTE)

Jun-23

879

We have only provided data for June 2023, aligning with the most recent data published in the HMPPS Workforce Quarterly Statistics (scheduled for 16 November 2023). This is because vacancy figures, whilst not published are linked to information that will be released shortly and could therefore prejudice the proper release of that data. Therefore we are only able to provide a limited response.

We are doing more than ever to attract and retain the best staff, including boosting salaries and launching our first-ever nationwide advertising campaign.

These efforts are working - we have hired over 4,000 additional officers since March 2017 and retention rates for prison staff are improving.

  • All data is taken from Workforce Planning Tools and shows the average position across the month, adjusted for joiners and leavers in the month.
  • Data only covers prison establishments and will not reflect any Band 3 – 5 Prison Officers who are working in headquarters establishments.
  • Workforce Planning Tool returns are manually completed by staff in prisons each month and, as with any manual returns, are subject to human error.
  • Indicative vacancies are the difference between Target Staffing and Staff in Post across the entire England & Wales prison estate.
  • Target Staffing is the number of staff required to run an optimal regime in each prison. This level is greater than the minimum number of staff required for a prison to operate safely, and includes allowances for staff taking leave, being off sick or being on training.
  • The Target Staffing Figures are set on a site-specific basis and vary in size.
  • Band 3-5 Officers includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officers (including specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.
  • Target Staffing levels are established based on a 39-hour working week. Staff in Post (FTE) is set at 1.0 FTE for those on a 39-hour contract / 1.05 FTE for those on a 41-hour contract and 0.95 FTE for those on a 37-hour contract.
  • Staff in Post data used to calculate an indicative number of vacancies does not take into account those on long-term absences (e.g. career breaks) / loans / secondments / agency staff or other forms of overtime.
  • Where prisons are not at their Target Staffing level, these are routinely supplemented (e.g., by using Payment Plus, a form of overtime) which is not accounted for in the indicative vacancy data provided. Use of detached duty, a long-standing mechanism to deploy staff from one prison or region to support another, is also not reflected in the data.
  • The above figure is a combination of indicative vacancies at prisons with Staff in Post below their Target Staffing level and the indicative number of surplus staff at other prisons where Staff in Post is above their Target Staffing level. In reality, prisons with surplus staff are likely to be sending those staff to work on Detached Duty at prisons with vacancies, and therefore netting vacancies against surpluses is a fair reflection of the overall national position.
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