Asked by: Leigh Ingham (Labour - Stafford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to support prison officers working in HMP Drake Hall in Stafford.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
HMP Drake Hall provides early days support for new Officers to ensure they are well informed pre-start date. The New Colleague Mentor supports staff in their first year along with an assigned mentor in addition to their Line Manager.
Line Mangers support staff through the Staff Wellbeing Offer, with referrals to Occupational Health and workplace adjustments passports if required. Staff Support networks are promoted to all staff. Onsite Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) practitioners and Care Team members are available. Staff are also able to access the Mental Health Allies service and Employee Assistance Programme.
Furthermore, Officers are allocated to training to support working with women and have touchpoint meetings with their Line Managers to aid their development and wellbeing. They have the opportunity to take part in various development schemes to help their career progression.
I recognise that prison officers work in difficult environments every day and I want to thank all prison officers for the important job they do in keeping the public safe.
The previous Government left our hardworking staff to face the brunt of prison overcrowding, which has damaged morale and put the safety and security of staff at risk. I know that a well-staffed and skilled HM Prison Service is fundamental to delivering safe, secure, and rehabilitative prison regimes and we are determined to improve their safety at work and ensure they get a fair pay reward.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
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) |
(Full Time Equivalent) | ||
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. |
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for resolutions to missed child maintenance payments.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) will do everything it can to address the nonpayment of child maintenance and reduce waiting times for missed payments. We use our enforcement powers fairly and quickly to get cases back into payment.
These powers include deductions from earnings orders, removal of driving licenses, disqualification from holding a passport, and committal to prison. The CMS has also introduced powers to deduct child maintenance directly from a wider range of bank accounts and can apply for a liability order. A liability order legally recognizes the debt and is required before the CMS can take certain enforcement actions against non-compliant parents to enforce those arrears.
Following the Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023 receiving royal assent in July 2023, secondary legislation is required to bring into force existing powers that allow the CMS to make an administrative liability order against a person who has failed to pay child maintenance and is in arrears.
The administrative liability order will replace the current requirement for the CMS to apply to the court for a liability order, which can take up to 22 weeks. Introducing a simpler administrative process will enable the CMS to take faster action against parents who actively avoid their responsibilities and will get money to children more quickly. We expect the new liability order process to take around six to eight weeks, allowing for delays.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department plans to review (a) the requirement to pay fees to initiate legal action when child custody court orders are breached and (b) other financial barriers to enforcing those orders.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
A Child Arrangement Order may be made by the family court to specify whom a child should live with, spend time with or otherwise have contact with.
If the court is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that a person has failed to comply with a Child Arrangement Order, the court has a range of powers available, they can: issue fines, enforcement (and suspended enforcement) orders, and orders for compensation for financial loss, and ultimately to commit an individual to prison, as well as varying the Child Arrangements Order to include a more defined order or a reconsideration of the child’s living or contact arrangements.
The Department operates a fee system in which those who engage with courts and tribunals are asked to fund some of the cost of administration, where they can afford to do so. This aligns with HM Treasury’s Managing Public Money guidelines, which recommends that fees are charged at a level to recover the full cost of their underpinning service.
The Department recognises that the Lord Chancellor has a duty to ensure access to justice for all those seeking support from a court or tribunal. The Help with Fees scheme offers partial and full remissions to those who cannot afford to pay a court or tribunal fee. Some fees, including those payable for applications relating to child arrangements, are intentionally set below their underpinning cost to further protect access to justice.
Legal aid is available for private family matters, including an enforcement order following the breach of a child arrangements order if an individual is a victim of domestic abuse or at risk of being abused. This funding is subject to providing the required evidence of domestic abuse and passing the means and merits tests.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of legal mechanisms available to victims of (a) coercive control and (b) other abuse when family courts do not enforce child custody arrangements.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
A Child Arrangement Order may be made by the family court to specify whom a child should live with, spend time with or otherwise have contact with.
If the court is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that a person has failed to comply with a Child Arrangement Order, the court has a range of powers available, they can: issue fines, enforcement (and suspended enforcement) orders, and orders for compensation for financial loss, and ultimately to commit an individual to prison, as well as varying the Child Arrangements Order to include a more defined order or a reconsideration of the child’s living or contact arrangements.
The Department operates a fee system in which those who engage with courts and tribunals are asked to fund some of the cost of administration, where they can afford to do so. This aligns with HM Treasury’s Managing Public Money guidelines, which recommends that fees are charged at a level to recover the full cost of their underpinning service.
The Department recognises that the Lord Chancellor has a duty to ensure access to justice for all those seeking support from a court or tribunal. The Help with Fees scheme offers partial and full remissions to those who cannot afford to pay a court or tribunal fee. Some fees, including those payable for applications relating to child arrangements, are intentionally set below their underpinning cost to further protect access to justice.
Legal aid is available for private family matters, including an enforcement order following the breach of a child arrangements order if an individual is a victim of domestic abuse or at risk of being abused. This funding is subject to providing the required evidence of domestic abuse and passing the means and merits tests.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that breaches of child custody court orders are enforced (a) effectively and (b) in a timely manner.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
A Child Arrangement Order may be made by the family court to specify whom a child should live with, spend time with or otherwise have contact with.
If the court is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that a person has failed to comply with a Child Arrangement Order, the court has a range of powers available, they can: issue fines, enforcement (and suspended enforcement) orders, and orders for compensation for financial loss, and ultimately to commit an individual to prison, as well as varying the Child Arrangements Order to include a more defined order or a reconsideration of the child’s living or contact arrangements.
The Department operates a fee system in which those who engage with courts and tribunals are asked to fund some of the cost of administration, where they can afford to do so. This aligns with HM Treasury’s Managing Public Money guidelines, which recommends that fees are charged at a level to recover the full cost of their underpinning service.
The Department recognises that the Lord Chancellor has a duty to ensure access to justice for all those seeking support from a court or tribunal. The Help with Fees scheme offers partial and full remissions to those who cannot afford to pay a court or tribunal fee. Some fees, including those payable for applications relating to child arrangements, are intentionally set below their underpinning cost to further protect access to justice.
Legal aid is available for private family matters, including an enforcement order following the breach of a child arrangements order if an individual is a victim of domestic abuse or at risk of being abused. This funding is subject to providing the required evidence of domestic abuse and passing the means and merits tests.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to ensure that the salaries of prison officers reflect their job responsibilities.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
HMPPS is committed to ensuring that we have a fair, transparent and effective pay and reward system, which reflects the demands of public-sector prisons. HMPPS uses an externally and independently designed, bespoke job evaluation scheme to evaluate the relative size and weight of the different roles across the Prison Service, including Prison Officers. The job evaluation scheme was developed using wide-ranging research and consultation with staff and trade unions.
Prison Officer roles (and all roles within the Prison Service) have job descriptions which focus on the activities that occupy the majority of their time, setting out the main responsibilities, activities and duties of the role. Through the job evaluation process, jobs are scored and grouped together in pay bands. Prison Officers are employed on pay band 3.
Pay for Prison Officers is informed by the independent recommendations made by the Prison Service Pay Review Body (PSPRB) each year.
In making their recommendations, the PSPRB takes account of the written and oral evidence submitted by Government as well as evidence and representations made by the recognised Trade Unions, including the Prison Officers’ Association. The PSPRB considers a range of factors including perceived or actual changes to the roles and responsibilities of Prison Officers as presented through the evidence, as well as financial indicators such as private sector wage growth, inflation, and future Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts.
There has been significant recent investment in Prison Officer pay. The 2024/25 Prison Service pay award delivered a pay rise of at 5% for all band 3 to 5 Prison Officers, Supervising Officers and Custodial Managers on modernised terms and conditions. This brings the starting salary for an entry level officer (on the national rate, 39 hours with unsocial hours) from £32,851 (as at 1 April 2023) to £34,494 (as at 1 April 2024).
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of prison officer salaries given the levels of (a) risk and (b) stress of this role.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Prison Service staff are some of our finest public servants. Despite their hard work, the Prison Service has been under immense pressure due to an increasing population and ageing estate.
One of the first things this Government did upon coming into office was to accept the independent recommendations of the Prison Service Pay Review Body in full. This delivered a pay rise of 5% for Band 3-5 Prison Officers on modernised terms and conditions. This brings the starting salary for an entry level officer (on the national rate, 39 hours with unsocial hours) from £32,851 to £34,494.
Given the challenges of working in a prison, we provide extensive mental health support, including a 24-hour helpline, confidential counselling, and online wellbeing services. Our Trauma Risk Management practitioners and Care Teams provide further support following any incidents while on duty.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of prison officer salary levels on staff retention rates.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The 2024/25 Prison Service pay award delivered a pay rise of at 5% for all Band 3 – 5 Prison Officers on modernised terms and conditions. This brings the starting salary for an entry level officer (on the national rate, 39 hours with unsocial hours) from £32,851 to £34,494.
As of 30 September 2024, there are 23,571 Band 3-5 Full Time Equivalent Prison Officers in post, and nationally across establishments we are at 99.5% of our Target Staffing Figure (when using hours adjusted FTE). We have seen indications of an improving retention picture in the past two years – as of September 2024, the resignation rate for Band 3-5 prison officers was 8.5%, which is an improvement of 3 percentage points since September 2022 (11.5%).
When asked about their primary reason for leaving the prison service, Pay and Reward no longer consistently features in the top five reasons for leaving as cited by staff in exit interviews.
Asked by: David Taylor (Labour - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that the Child Maintenance Service takes action against people who are in arrears.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) will do everything within its powers to make sure parents comply and has made significant improvements to the process to speed up action when payments first break down and to target enforcement action more effectively.
Where parents fail to take responsibility for paying for their children, the CMS will not hesitate to use the full range of strong enforcement powers available. These include, using Enforcement Agents (previously known as bailiffs) to take control of goods, forcing the sale of property, removal of driving license or UK passport, deductions directly from earnings and bank accounts or even commitment to prison.
8% (£682.1 million) of the total maintenance due to be paid since the CMS began, remains to be collected through Collect & Pay but this is falling.
In the past year to September 2024, the CMS collected £16.8 million from paying parents with civil enforcement actions in process and an additional £5.4 million from paying parents with our most serious enforcement action in process.
In the twelve months to September 2024, there were 2,857 applications to the courts in England, Wales and Scotland for our most serious enforcement powers. Of these the courts issued two immediate prison sentences and 316 suspended prison sentences.