Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people are currently on the prison officer reserve list; what proportion of those on the reserve list have received training in the duties of a prison officer; and how many of those on the reserve list have been deployed to assist in prisons following the riot in HM Prison Birmingham.

We currently offer permanent flexible contracts to ex-prison officers under the HMPS Reserve Scheme which was established in November 2015. Under the HMPS Reserve Scheme, we offer a permanent flexible contract to prison officers who have left voluntarily within the preceding 2 years. These staff will work flexibly to meet the needs of the estate. This helps to support the current operational workforce across the estate and to complement existing methods for meeting the staffing needs of prisons around the country.

HMPS Reserve staff provide a valuable flexible resource for NOMS by supporting prison regimes and as at 30 September 2016, the date of the most recent published figures, there were 10 prison officer reserves and they continue to be deployed on an on-going basis across the Service in support of existing staff including after the riot in HMP Birmingham.