Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to Answer of 5th December 2025 to Question 94817, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) duplicate listings and (b) placeholder vacancies on commercial job platforms on the accuracy of reported vacancy levels.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 11th of December is attached.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to Answer of 5th December 2025 to Question 94817, what estimate he has made of the proportion of unemployed people included in the most recent unemployment-to-vacancy ratio figures who were classified as long-term unemployed.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Office for National Statistics publishes figures each month on the number of long-term unemployed people and what proportion of people who are unemployed are long-term unemployed in tab 9 of table A01 - A01: Summary of labour market statistics - Office for National Statistics
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his department will publish the average time-in-role for prison governors in each of the last 10 calendar years.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The latest published HMPPS workforce statistics covers the period up to 30 September 2025 so the latest calendar year available is for 2024. Figures showing the average length of time spent in post for public sector prison governors in England and Wales as at 31 December 2015 to 2024 and 30 September 2025 are given in the table below.
The figures relate to the governing governors’ time in the role they were in on the given date only and exclude previous governor service. In addition, figures do not include deputy governors temporarily covering a governing governor role.
Table 1 - Average (mean) length of service (in years) of governors in the public sector prison role they were in on the given date, as at 31 December 2015 to 2024, and as at 30 September 2025.
Date | Average years (mean) |
31 December 2015 | 2.2 |
31 December 2016 | 2.0 |
31 December 2017 | 2.3 |
31 December 2018 | 2.3 |
31 December 2019 | 2.3 |
31 December 2020 | 2.7 |
31 December 2021 | 2.8 |
31 December 2022 | 3.1 |
31 December 2023 | 2.7 |
31 December 2024 | 2.9 |
30 September 2025 | 2.7 |
Notes:
1. Figures show average length of service of the prison governor role on the given date.
2. Figures relate to governing governors only (band 10-11) and do not include deputy governors temporarily covering the role.
3. The number of governors and prisons change over time, as vacancies arise and as prisons transfer between the public and private sector.
4. Each governor is only included once per given date, though it is possible to temporarily be governor of more than one prison at a time.
5. As with all HR databases, extracts are taken at a fixed point in time and is dependent on staff completing the details correctly. The database itself is dynamic and where updates to the database are made late, subsequent to the taking of the extract, or are incorrect then these updates will not be reflected in figures produced by the extract. For this reason, HR data are unlikely to be precisely accurate and may not match local data.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many of the prisoners mistakenly released since April 2025 were convicted of violent, sexual or other serious offences; and what assessment he has made of the danger to the public posed by those still at large.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Releases in error have been increasing for several years and are another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government. The safety of the public is our absolute priority.
While the overwhelming majority of offenders are released correctly, any release in error is treated with utmost seriousness and we are clamping down on those that do occur. On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan setting out initial steps to address this issue. As soon as an error is identified, we immediately assess the individual’s risk and work closely with the police to ensure swift action. A joint protocol between HMPPS and NPCC is in place, to ensure effective and timely communication between partner agencies when an individual is released in error to rearrest them as quickly as possible.
Totals for releases in error are published each July in the HMPPS Annual Digest, with the latest available via HMPPS Annual Digest, April 2024 to March 2025 - GOV.UK, which provides data up to March 2025. These include information on the principal offence group of those released.
A further transparency ad hoc publication, available via Releases_in_Error_from_1_April_2025_to_31_October_2025.pdf, also covers the number of releases in error from 1 April 2025 to 31 October 2025. Further breakdowns of this data cannot be provided at this time because they would give an early indication of future Official Statistics.
Offender Management Units play a vital role in our prisons, including processing prisoner releases. Prisons are encouraged to fill vacancies promptly, with the Department providing support on best practice in recruitment. We are also rolling out technology-based upgrades to assist frontline staff, helping to reduce human error.
The Government is determined to fix the issue of mistaken releases and ensure the public is properly protected.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of staff shortages in offender management units on errors in calculating prisoners release dates.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Releases in error have been increasing for several years and are another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government. The safety of the public is our absolute priority.
While the overwhelming majority of offenders are released correctly, any release in error is treated with utmost seriousness and we are clamping down on those that do occur. On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan setting out initial steps to address this issue. As soon as an error is identified, we immediately assess the individual’s risk and work closely with the police to ensure swift action. A joint protocol between HMPPS and NPCC is in place, to ensure effective and timely communication between partner agencies when an individual is released in error to rearrest them as quickly as possible.
Totals for releases in error are published each July in the HMPPS Annual Digest, with the latest available via HMPPS Annual Digest, April 2024 to March 2025 - GOV.UK, which provides data up to March 2025. These include information on the principal offence group of those released.
A further transparency ad hoc publication, available via Releases_in_Error_from_1_April_2025_to_31_October_2025.pdf, also covers the number of releases in error from 1 April 2025 to 31 October 2025. Further breakdowns of this data cannot be provided at this time because they would give an early indication of future Official Statistics.
Offender Management Units play a vital role in our prisons, including processing prisoner releases. Prisons are encouraged to fill vacancies promptly, with the Department providing support on best practice in recruitment. We are also rolling out technology-based upgrades to assist frontline staff, helping to reduce human error.
The Government is determined to fix the issue of mistaken releases and ensure the public is properly protected.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the impact of the scale of erroneous prisoner releases on public confidence and public safety.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Releases in error have been increasing for several years and are another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government. The safety of the public is our absolute priority.
While the overwhelming majority of offenders are released correctly, any release in error is treated with utmost seriousness and we are clamping down on those that do occur. On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan setting out initial steps to address this issue. As soon as an error is identified, we immediately assess the individual’s risk and work closely with the police to ensure swift action. A joint protocol between HMPPS and NPCC is in place, to ensure effective and timely communication between partner agencies when an individual is released in error to rearrest them as quickly as possible.
Totals for releases in error are published each July in the HMPPS Annual Digest, with the latest available via HMPPS Annual Digest, April 2024 to March 2025 - GOV.UK, which provides data up to March 2025. These include information on the principal offence group of those released.
A further transparency ad hoc publication, available via Releases_in_Error_from_1_April_2025_to_31_October_2025.pdf, also covers the number of releases in error from 1 April 2025 to 31 October 2025. Further breakdowns of this data cannot be provided at this time because they would give an early indication of future Official Statistics.
Offender Management Units play a vital role in our prisons, including processing prisoner releases. Prisons are encouraged to fill vacancies promptly, with the Department providing support on best practice in recruitment. We are also rolling out technology-based upgrades to assist frontline staff, helping to reduce human error.
The Government is determined to fix the issue of mistaken releases and ensure the public is properly protected.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of job vacancies in key professions within her Department’s responsibilities, including contractor organisations.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes information on the number of vacancies at UK-level, by industry, and by size of business as part of the vacancies and jobs in the UK release. Using that data, we see that in August to October 2025 there were 15,000 vacancies in arts, entertainment and recreation, 33,000 vacancies in information and communication and 76,000 vacancies in accommodation and food service activities. Parts of these industries are included in DCMS sector definitions.
Compared to August to October 2024:
Arts, entertainment and recreation vacancies are down 14.0%
Accommodation and food service activities vacancies are down 16.5%
Information and communication vacancies are down 13.5%
DCMS uses a more granular industry classification (4-digit Standard Industrial Classification codes) to define our sectors and ONS vacancy data is not publicly available at this level.
DCMS publishes official statistics in development estimating the number of vacancies, alongside skills shortages and skills gaps, based on the Department for Education’s (DfE) Employer Skills Survey. Two regular data releases have been published so far: DCMS Sectors Skills Shortages and Skills Gaps: 2019 and DCMS Sector Skills Shortages and Skills Gaps: 2022, UK, as well as additional analysis for the Creative Industries. The 2022 data showed that 25.5% of DCMS Sectors businesses in the UK had at least one vacancy open at the time of the survey. This was significantly higher than All Sectors (23.2%).
Further insights into labour demand are provided in the ONS’s Labour demand volumes by Standard Occupation Classification (SOC 2020), UK dataset, which includes official statistics in development sourced from Textkernel data. DCMS has published additional estimates by SOC code for the Creative Industries using the DfE’s Employer Skills Survey.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will set out the process by which appointments of the Chair and non-executive directors of the Port of London Authority are made.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Under Port of London Authority legislation, the Secretary of State for Transport appoints the Chair and one to three non‑executive directors, typically for terms of up to three years, with reappointment possible subject to performance and need.
Appointments follow the Governance Code on Public Appointments https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/governance-code-for-public-appointments through an open, fair, and transparent process managed by the Department for Transport (DfT). Vacancies are advertised on the Cabinet Office Public Appointments website with a timetable, role description, and person specification. Candidates apply via the portal and are assessed by a panel against published criteria. The panel recommends to Ministers who make the final decision. This process ensures merit-based appointments, and compliance with Ports Good Governance Guidance https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/good-governance-guidance-for-ports .
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the employee (a) vacancy and (b) turnover rates were at HMP Hewell in each of the last five years by (i) prison staff and (ii) prison officers.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The latest published workforce statistics for HM Prison & Probation Service cover the period up to 30 September 2025 and contain figures for the last five years for working days lost, average staff and average working days lost for each public sector prison and for different grades, but not by prison and grade combined. The published figures are for the 12 months to 31 March each year and latest figures are for the 12 months to 30 September 2025. These figures for HMP Hewell, split by band 3-5 prison officers and other prison staff, are given in the table below.
Working days lost to sickness absence, for HMP Hewell, by band 3-5 prison officers and other staff – for 12 months to 31 March 2021 to 2025 and for 12 months to 30 September 2025.
(Full Time Equivalent)
12 months to given date | Band 3-5 prison officers1 | Other prison staff | All staff at HMP Hewell |
31-Mar-21 | 4,344 | 2,189 | 6,532 |
31-Mar-22 | 4,392 | 2,677 | 7,069 |
31-Mar-23 | 3,706 | 2,158 | 5,864 |
31-Mar-24 | 3,801 | 2,266 | 6,067 |
31-Mar-25 | 4,701 | 2,103 | 6,803 |
30-Sep-252 | 5,073 | 2,736 | 7,809 |
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|
|
|
Notes
A comparison between target staffing levels and staff in post can be found in the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/691da96221ef5aaa6543ef83/annex-prison-and-probation-officer-recruitment-Sep-2025_final.ods.
Internal management information has long been used for workforce planning to monitor vacancies and other resource monitoring purposes. However, target staffing and parallel staff in post data has only been produced for the purpose of official statistics for the last few years. As a result, the full historic time series is not available in a consistent format for the grade breakdowns requested.
Turnover rates1 at HMP Hewell for (i) band 3-5 officers2 and (ii) all other prison staff, in the 12 months to 31 March 2021-2025 and in the 12 months to 30 September 2025
12 months to given date | Band 3-5 prison officers (%) | Other prison staff (%) | All staff at HMP Hewell (%) |
31-Mar-21 | 13.6 | 11.9 | 12.9 |
31-Mar-22 | 14.4 | 9.8 | 12.6 |
31-Mar-23 | 15.0 | 11.7 | 14.0 |
31-Mar-24 | 14.2 | 8.0 | 11.6 |
31-Mar-25 | 13.8 | 10.4 | 12.4 |
30-Sep-25 | 14.6 | 8.9 | 12.2 |
Notes:
1. Turnover rates include all reasons for leaving and include both permanent and temporary staff.
2. Band 3-5 officers include: Bands 3-4 / Prison Officer (incl. specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officer and Band 5 / Custodial Managers
3. As with all HR databases, extracts are taken at a fixed point in time and is dependent on staff completing the details correctly. The database itself is dynamic and where updates to the database are made late, subsequent to the taking of the extract, or are incorrect then these updates will not be reflected in figures produced by the extract. For this reason, HR data are unlikely to be precisely accurate and may not match local data.
Figures relating to the most recent 12 months are provisional, and may be subject to change in the future.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many full-time equivalent days were lost to sickness absence at HMP Hewell in each of the last five years by (a) prison officers and (b) other prison staff.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The latest published workforce statistics for HM Prison & Probation Service cover the period up to 30 September 2025 and contain figures for the last five years for working days lost, average staff and average working days lost for each public sector prison and for different grades, but not by prison and grade combined. The published figures are for the 12 months to 31 March each year and latest figures are for the 12 months to 30 September 2025. These figures for HMP Hewell, split by band 3-5 prison officers and other prison staff, are given in the table below.
Working days lost to sickness absence, for HMP Hewell, by band 3-5 prison officers and other staff – for 12 months to 31 March 2021 to 2025 and for 12 months to 30 September 2025.
(Full Time Equivalent)
12 months to given date | Band 3-5 prison officers1 | Other prison staff | All staff at HMP Hewell |
31-Mar-21 | 4,344 | 2,189 | 6,532 |
31-Mar-22 | 4,392 | 2,677 | 7,069 |
31-Mar-23 | 3,706 | 2,158 | 5,864 |
31-Mar-24 | 3,801 | 2,266 | 6,067 |
31-Mar-25 | 4,701 | 2,103 | 6,803 |
30-Sep-252 | 5,073 | 2,736 | 7,809 |
|
|
|
|
Notes
A comparison between target staffing levels and staff in post can be found in the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/691da96221ef5aaa6543ef83/annex-prison-and-probation-officer-recruitment-Sep-2025_final.ods.
Internal management information has long been used for workforce planning to monitor vacancies and other resource monitoring purposes. However, target staffing and parallel staff in post data has only been produced for the purpose of official statistics for the last few years. As a result, the full historic time series is not available in a consistent format for the grade breakdowns requested.
Turnover rates1 at HMP Hewell for (i) band 3-5 officers2 and (ii) all other prison staff, in the 12 months to 31 March 2021-2025 and in the 12 months to 30 September 2025
12 months to given date | Band 3-5 prison officers (%) | Other prison staff (%) | All staff at HMP Hewell (%) |
31-Mar-21 | 13.6 | 11.9 | 12.9 |
31-Mar-22 | 14.4 | 9.8 | 12.6 |
31-Mar-23 | 15.0 | 11.7 | 14.0 |
31-Mar-24 | 14.2 | 8.0 | 11.6 |
31-Mar-25 | 13.8 | 10.4 | 12.4 |
30-Sep-25 | 14.6 | 8.9 | 12.2 |
Notes:
1. Turnover rates include all reasons for leaving and include both permanent and temporary staff.
2. Band 3-5 officers include: Bands 3-4 / Prison Officer (incl. specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officer and Band 5 / Custodial Managers
3. As with all HR databases, extracts are taken at a fixed point in time and is dependent on staff completing the details correctly. The database itself is dynamic and where updates to the database are made late, subsequent to the taking of the extract, or are incorrect then these updates will not be reflected in figures produced by the extract. For this reason, HR data are unlikely to be precisely accurate and may not match local data.
Figures relating to the most recent 12 months are provisional, and may be subject to change in the future.