Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many positions within his Department's Illegal Migration Operations Command were vacant on 1 April 2024.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
For security reasons, the Home Office does not provide data of staff working within the Illegal Migrations of Operation Command or on its resourcing plans.
The Home Office continues to ensure appropriate staffing levels are maintained. As with all government departments, we remain committed to accessing the best talent and skills into the Civil Service while adhering to headcount caps, maximising efficiency and delivering for the public whilst retaining maximum value for the taxpayer.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps the Government has taken to reduce levels of economic inactivity among women aged between 45 and 60 in (a) Newport West constituency and (b) Wales.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Local Jobcentre teams are supporting customers into work and helping those in work to progress to higher paid jobs. We are working with local and national employers to help fill vacancies quickly, recruitment days, Job Fairs, wellbeing events and work trials, all of which can help support women across Wales to return to work.
Eligible older jobseekers on Universal Credit benefit from additional time with their Work Coach and the delivery of Mid Life MOTs in Jobcentres which support people to review their health, wealth and skills, with sessions delivered in Newport Jobcentre and across Wales. DWP also offers the digital MOT which is available online to help anyone who needs help to assess their finances, skills and work.
In addition, Newport Jobcentre offers bespoke support for over 50s including Job Clubs in collaboration with C4W+, offering 4-weeks of employability skills support, events with Springboard Charity focused on the hospitality sector, providing training, qualifications and work placements, and events with 1st Impressions, a charity that supplies clothing to women attending interviews or starting work.
Further planned support in Newport includes a Digital Skills course and wellbeing hubs as part of our 50Plus offer, myth busting sessions with Admiral Insurance and coaching support from Business in the Community. Activity across Wales includes a six week back to work programme for over 50s in Llandudno, and sessions delivered by local provider, Groundworks, to support customers in Shotton, both of which were well attended by local women.
We also work with businesses and the Government's Menopause Employment Champion to drive awareness of issues surrounding the menopause and work; encouraging employers to develop policies that create a more supportive environment to help women return to, stay in and progress in work. As part of the 50plus choices offer, 50plus Champions have delivered presentations to Jobcentre teams in Newport and across Wales on the menopause and the support available.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment, if any, they have made of the number of GPs currently seeking, yet unable to obtain, employment.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is no centrally held data on the number of general practice vacancies.
The Government remains committed to growing the number of doctors working in general practice. NHS England has made available a number of recruitment schemes, including the Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme and the Return to Practice Programme.
The headcount of doctors working in general practice in March 2024 was 4,282 more, including 2,709 full time equivalent (FTE) doctors, than in March 2019.
The latest available data, as of March 2024, shows that the headcount of doctors in general practice in England was 47,173, including 37,235 FTE doctors, of whom 37,399 (27,574 FTE) were fully qualified general practioners.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of GPs now seeking and unable to obtain employment.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is no centrally held data on the number of general practice vacancies.
The Government remains committed to growing the number of doctors working in general practice. NHS England has made available a number of recruitment schemes, including the Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme and the Return to Practice Programme.
The headcount of doctors working in general practice in March 2024 was 4,282 more, including 2,709 full time equivalent (FTE) doctors, than in March 2019.
The latest available data, as of March 2024, shows that the headcount of doctors in general practice in England was 47,173, including 37,235 FTE doctors, of whom 37,399 (27,574 FTE) were fully qualified general practioners.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many vacancies there are in the probation service by region.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The workforce position, at 31 March 2024, was 20,758 FTE Staff in Post working in Probation Service grades (including those working in Approved Premises). This is an increase of 728 FTE (3.6%) since 31 March 2023.
Recruitment and retention remain a priority across the Probation Service and we have injected extra funding of more than £155 million a year since 2021 to deliver more robust supervision, recruit more staff and reduce caseloads to keep the public safer.
We have recruited 4,582 trainee Probation Officers between 2020/21 and 2023/24. Many of these trainees have already qualified and taken up Probation Officer posts and we expect the remainder of these intakes to qualify by the end of 2025 and begin to take on Probation Officer caseloads. We will continue to run centralised recruitment campaigns in priority regions to help bolster the number of applications.
Table One: Vacancies across Probation Service Regions, March 2024, all Probation Service grades.
Probation Service Region | Vacancies (FTE) |
PS East Midlands | 45 |
PS East of England | 204 |
PS Greater Manchester | 18 |
PS Kent, Surrey & Sussex | 100 |
PS London | 446 |
PS North East | 50 |
PS North West | 89 |
PS South Central | 103 |
PS South West | 71 |
PS Wales | 0 |
PS West Midlands | 67 |
PS Yorkshire & the Humber | 109 |
PS Approved Premises | 0 |
Notes
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to improve staff retention on the New Hospitals Programme.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The New Hospital Programme (NHP) continues to recruit into outstanding vacancies and is making progress in line with its current plans, workforce planning and resource assumptions.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to reduce vacancies on the New Hospitals Programme.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The New Hospital Programme (NHP) continues to recruit into outstanding vacancies and is making progress in line with its current plans, workforce planning and resource assumptions.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many vacancies were there in the high security estate on 1 May in each year since 2010; and what the vacancy rate was on each date.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Following a period of staffing challenges after the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen a substantial improvement in the national staffing picture within prisons. The number of Band 3-5 Prison Officers increased by 1,396 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) between 31 March 2023 and 31 March 2024, and resignation rates have fallen over the same period. This is the result of significant efforts across the agency, including substantial increases in pay for staff and launching our first-ever nationwide advertising campaign.
However, challenges remain in some sites and where we see persistent staffing challenges, we take a targeted approach, supporting prisons with tailored recruitment and marketing support. Where establishments experience temporary staffing shortfalls, they can seek support through processes managed nationally at an Agency level via the Strategic Enhanced Resourcing Support (SERS) panel. All applications to the SERS panel are considered thoroughly and support available includes overtime payments and detached duty staff from other establishments.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) only holds indicative vacancy data for prisons going back to 2017. As a result, we have presented the average number of indicative vacancies for the month of May for each year from 2017 to 2023. The Staff in Post dataset we use for comparison with Target Staffing presents a month average position (rather than looking at staffing on a particular date), adjusted for joiners and leavers in month. Indicative vacancy data for May 2024 is not currently available, but we have provided the Staff in Post increase from Table 15 of the published statistics for the Long Term & High Security Estate from 30 June 2023 to 31 March 2024 for context (HM Prison and Probation Service workforce statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)). Target Staffing levels cannot be used to directly calculate vacancies due to the discretion governors have to change establishment level staffing requirements through Governors' freedoms. As a result, the MoJ does not regularly present vacancy data (hence use of the term indicative vacancies) and the data presented should be treated with caution.
An indicative vacancy (FTE) has been calculated as the difference between Target Staffing (FTE) and Staff in Post (FTE). In Table One we have netted off surpluses and deficits between grades and establishments to give an overall net number of indicative vacancies. This means that deficits for some grades and establishments will have been offset by surpluses at other grades and establishments. The indicative vacancy rate has been calculated as the number of indicative vacancies (FTE) divided by overall Target Staffing (FTE) across the Long Term & High Security Estate. The data included covers both operational and non-operational roles.
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.
Table One: Total Indicative Vacancies across Long Term & High Security Estate, May 2017 to May 2023
| Indicative Vacancies (FTE) | Indicative Vacancy Rate (%) |
May-17* | 527 | 8% |
May-18 | 196 | 3% |
May-19 | 73 | 1% |
May-20 | 192 | 3% |
May-21 | 517 | 7% |
May-22 | 611 | 8% |
May-23* | 590 | 8% |
*Due to a re-role of prisons, HMP Aylesbury has been excluded from the Long Term & High Security Estate for 2017 and 2023.
Looking at all staff grades for the Long Term & High Security Estate between 30 June 2023 and 31 March 2024, there was an increase of 376 FTE.
Notes
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help fill job vacancies in Portsmouth.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Jobcentre team are supporting residents into work and helping those in work to progress to higher paid jobs. We are working with local and national employers to help fill vacancies quickly, delivering Sector-Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs), recruitment days, Job Fairs, and work trials.
Our Youth Team works with the Prince’s Trust to provide additional support and courses to prepare young people who are not in education and training, including those without parental support, to attain training and employment.
The Jobcentre works closely with the National Careers Service who, after a successful trial, will deliver ongoing bespoke Group Information Sessions to customers who require a CV or need their current CV enhancing to apply for jobs.
The Jobcentre is hosting a bespoke Armed Forces recruitment event that will follow up on the UK’s national Armed Forces Day. This is in partnership with the Royal Navy, British Army, Royal Air Force and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
Additionally, the team in Portsmouth are working closely with local employers including Nature’s Way, Solent Sky Services and Thatched House (Greene King) to fill their job vacancies as well as working closely with partners such as the local Chamber of Commerce to offer regular Job Fairs focussed on specific sectors and customer groups.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to expand support available through Jobcentres in Southport constituency.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The local Jobcentre team are collaborating with a range of partners to support people into work and help employers fill vacancies. In addition to hosting job fairs, delivering Sector-Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs), and hosting employer Group Information Sessions, Southport Jobcentre is working with Sefton Council, local colleges, care & childcare providers, manufacturing, retail, education, agriculture, and hospitality companies, to provide an employment and skills offer to help meet the recruitment needs of local employers.
Southport Jobcentre has been working closely with employers such as Sainsbury’s and McDonald’s to hosts SWAP’s for Southport residents to have direct access to live vacancies. The Jobcentre has also collaborated with Southport College to hosts job fairs to bring together national and local employers for job opportunities as well as providers to support customers with breaking down barriers to work. Additionally, the Jobcentre looks forward to supporting Southport’s future regeneration and exciting projects which includes the Southport Enterprise Arcade, the Garrick Theatre development and the Marine Lake Events Centre.
Disability Employment Advisers (DEA’s) offer advice and expertise on how to help disabled people and people with health conditions into work, alongside close working with Merseycare, The Peer Mentoring Service, Life Rooms, and Sefton Council. Southport Jobcentre colleagues also attend local events to highlight the support available, including Access to Work, Disability Confident and the Working Health Pioneer programme.