Prison Officers Length of Service

Alert Sample

Alert results for: Prison Officers Length of Service

Information between 21st July 2022 - 16th April 2025

Note: This sample does not contain the most recent 2 weeks of information. Up to date samples can only be viewed by Subscribers.
Click here to view Subscription options.

Written Answers

Prison Officers: Length of Service
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Wednesday 12th March 2025

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an estimate of the cumulative number of years of experience held by prison officers in each year since 2010.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The cumulative length of service, in years, held by band 3-5 prison officers in public sector prisons is given in the following table. Figures are given as of 31 December each year.

Although national staffing levels have improved, we are focusing on retaining the new intakes of staff. As of December 2024, 39.2% of Band 3-5 prison officers have less than 3 years of experience.

As the figures show, over the last 14 years of Conservative Government, experience of prison officers was allowed to decline. The loss of experienced staff has left the Service with a relatively inexperienced workforce, and we are improving our learning and development offer to upskill these newer colleagues.

We launched The Enable Programme, which is a dedicated HMPPS workforce transformation programme. It aims to transform prisons over the medium term, through a series of workforce and regime changes that will transform how HMPPS trains, develops, leads, and supports prison staff. This includes new training foundation training and upskilling packages for prison officers at the beginning of their service, and a strengthened succession planning and talent pipeline for prison Governors. We have already began rolling this programme out focusing on the most inexperienced staff, first.

Table 1 – Cumulative length of service(1) of band 3-5 prison officers(2) in public sector prisons in England and Wales, as at 31 December each year from 2010 to 2024(3)

Date	Number of prison officers in post	Cumulative length of service of all prison officers (Years)
Date	(Full Time Equivalent)	Cumulative length of service of all prison officers (Years)
31/12/2010	24,501	329,353
31/12/2011	23,054	326,563
31/12/2012	21,841	326,660
31/12/2013	18,731	287,921
31/12/2014	17,795	278,254
31/12/2015	18,235	272,086
31/12/2016	17,887	261,607
31/12/2017	19,901	253,415
31/12/2018	22,681	247,741
31/12/2019	22,116	246,083
31/12/2020	21,501	242,473
31/12/2021	22,072	239,970
31/12/2022	21,562	226,620
31/12/2023	23,198	220,227
31/12/2024	23,062	215,994

Notes

1. The length of service in HMPPS is calculated from most recent hire date. Where staff have transferred in from another Government Department or have transferred in through HMPPS taking over a function, length of service is calculated from entry to HMPPS. 2. Band 3-5 Officers includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officers (incl. specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.

3. The dates reflect the Full Time Equivalent and cumulative years of service at that particular point of the year.

4. Data may not match previous releases as we are now excluding all staff who were not an active member of the workforce and receiving pay on the relevant date from our staff in post counts.

Prison Officers: Length of Service
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Thursday 11th January 2024

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an estimate of the cumulative number of years of experience held by prison officers in each year since 2010.

Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

The cumulative length of service, in years, held by all prison officers is given in Table 1 below. Most years’ figures are given as at 31 December each year, aside from 2023, where the latest published figures are as at 30 September 2023.

HMPPS has a strong training offer for new recruits which ensures all officers are equipped to perform their roles safely and securely. Total and average length of service in the workforce will increase as HMPPS’s new recruits from recent years continue in the prison service, who we are seeking to support through a number of programmes aimed at increasing retention.

This includes the introduction of over 150 new colleague mentors to support new staff in their roles, which takes the pressure off both experienced Prison Officers and managers, and, a Career Pathways framework to enable staff to identify their development needs and career aspirations. We are also running supervision pilots in three prisons alongside the introduction of new leadership training, which will contribute to supporting career development and retention of experienced officers.

Table 1 – Band 3-5 Prison Officers¹ in England and Wales cumulative length of service², as at 31 December each year from 2010 to 2022 and 30 September 2023³

	Date	Number of Prison officers in post	Cumulative Length of Service of all prison officers
	Date	(Full Time Equivalent)	Cumulative Length of Service of all prison officers
	31/12/2010	24,501	329,353
	31/12/2011	23,051	326,480
	31/12/2012	21,841	326,660
	31/12/2013	18,731	287,921
	31/12/2014	17,795	278,254
	31/12/2015	18,235	272,086
	31/12/2016	17,887	261,607
	31/12/2017	19,925	253,665
	31/12/2018	22,722	248,008
	31/12/2019	22,154	246,375
	31/12/2020	21,564	243,036
	31/12/2021	22,156	240,501
	31/12/2022	21,632	227,105
	30/09/2023	23,058	221,755
Notes to tables:
Band 3-5 Officers includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officers (incl. specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers. The length of service in HMPPS is calculated from most recent hire date. Where staff have transferred in from another Government Department or have transferred in through HMPPS taking over a function, length of service is calculated from entry to HMPPS. The dates reflect the Full Time Equivalent and cumulative years of service at that point of the year.

Table 2 - Band 3-5 Prison Officers¹ in England and Wales cumulative length of service², as at 30 September 2023³ - by length of service band

Completed years of service	Number of Prison officers in post (FTE)	Cumulative Length of Service of all prison officers ( Years)
0-4	11,507	20,990
5-9	5,038	33,569
10+	6,513	167,196
Total	23,058	221,755

Notes to tables:
1. Band 3-5 Officers includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officers (incl. specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.
2. The length of service in HMPPS is calculated from most recent hire date. Where staff have transferred in from another Government Department or have transferred in through HMPPS taking over a function, length of service is calculated from entry to HMPPS.
3. The dates reflect the Full Time Equivalent and cumulative years of service at that point of the year.