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<p>We are doing more than ever to attract and retain the best staff, including boosting
salaries and launching our first-ever nationwide advertising campaign. These efforts
are working - we have over 4,800 FTE additional officers between March 2017 and December
2023 and retention rates for prison staff are improving.</p><p>Our latest published
HMPPS workforce statistics present data up to 31 December 2023. While you have asked
for data as at 16 April 2024, we are unable to provide data for periods following
December 2023 as this could pre-empt the next set of published Staff in Post data,
which will be released on Thursday 16 May 2024. Once updated staffing data have been
published in May, including data up to 31 March 2024, we will then be able to consider
questions related to vacancy data up to and including March 2024.</p><p>In December
2023, across the whole of the Public Sector Prison estate in England and Wales (including
the Youth Custody Service) for Band 3-5 Prison Officers, Staff in Post was 63 FTE
below the Target Staffing level. This figure is a combination of indicative vacancies
at prisons with Staff in Post below their Target Staffing level and the indicative
number of surplus staff at other prisons where Staff in Post is above their Target
Staffing level. Where possible, prisons with surplus staff are likely to be sending
those staff to work on Detached Duty at prisons with vacancies. At times, we have
intentionally over-recruited in certain prisons or regions to give the system wider
resilience and where prisons are not at their Target Staffing level. 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 indicative vacancies number.</p><p>In December
2023, there were just under 790 FTE Band 3-5 Prison Officer indicative vacancies across
individual Public Sector Prison establishments in England and Wales, where Staff in
Post was below their Target Staffing level, and just over 720 FTE indicative number
of surplus staff across individual Public Sector Prison establishments, in establishments
where Staff in Post was above their Target Staffing level.</p><p>Table One (below)
shows the total Band 3, Band 4 and Band 5 Prison Officer indicative vacancies (FTE)
across Public Sector Prisons England & Wales, by region, as of December 2023.
Table Two attached shows total Band 3, Band 4 and Band 5 Prison Officer indicative
vacancies (FTE) across Public Sector Prisons England & Wales, by region, December
2023.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><p><strong>Table One: Total Band
3, Band 4 and Band 5 Prison Officer indicative vacancies (FTE) across Public Sector
Prisons England & Wales, by region (summed from the establishment level in Annex
A), December 2023</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Region</p></td><td><p>Band
3 Indicative Vacancies</p></td><td><p>Band 4 Indicative Vacancies</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Band
5 Indicative Vacancies</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Avon, South Dorset and Wiltshire Prisons</p></td><td><p>30</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk Prisons</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>13</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Cumbria & Lancashire Prisons</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Devon and North Dorset Prisons</p></td><td><p>12</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>East Midlands Prisons</p></td><td><p>22</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>14</p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Greater Manchester, Merseyside & Cheshire Prisons</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Hertfordshire, Essex and Suffolk Prisons</p></td><td><p>11</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Kent, Surrey and Sussex Prisons</p></td><td><p>59</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>9</p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>London Prisons</p></td><td><p>13</p></td><td><p>36</p></td><td><p>22</p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Long Term High Security Estate - North</p></td><td><p>12</p></td><td><p>23</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Long Term High Security Estate - South</p></td><td><p>259</p></td><td><p>49</p></td><td><p>33</p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North East Prisons</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>12</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North Midlands Prisons</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South Central Prisons</p></td><td><p>48</p></td><td><p>25</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>West Midlands Prisons</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>15</p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Women's Prison Group</p></td><td><p>25</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>9</p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Yorkshire Prisons</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Youth Custody Services*</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>31</p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wales</p></td><td><p>36</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>
</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>541</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>237</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>
196</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>* In addition, there were 76
FTE vacancies across the Band 3 and 4 grades combined for the Youth Custody Services.
In the Youth Custody Services there are a considerable number of staff employed at
Band 3 grade working against the Band 4 target as they work towards becoming Band
4 Youth Justice Workers. As a result, we have merged the Band 3 and 4 grades for these
five institutions.</p><p><strong>Notes on data in this response</strong></p><ol><li>All
data is taken from Workforce Planning Tool returns and shows the average position
across the month (as of December 2023), adjusted for joiners and leavers in the month.</li><li>Data
only covers Public Sector Prison establishments (including the four Young Offenders
Institutions (Cookham Wood, Feltham, Werrington and Wetherby)) in England and Wales
(and the Youth Custody Service) and will not reflect any Band 3 – 5 Prison Officers
who are working in headquarters establishments (e.g. area offices), Public Sector
Prisons in Wales or Privately Managed Prisons.</li><li>Workforce Planning Tool returns
are manually completed by staff in prisons each month and, as with any manual returns,
are subject to human error.</li><li>Indicative vacancies are the difference between
Target Staffing levels and Staff in Post across the entire Public Sector Prison estate
in England and Wales at prisons (and the Youth Custody Service) with Staff in Post
below their Target Staffing level. Indicative surpluses are the difference between
Target Staffing levels and Staff in Post across the entire Public Sector Prison estate
in England and Wales (and the Youth Custody Service) at prisons where Staff in Post
is above their Target Staffing level.</li><li>In Table One we have summed indicative
vacancies at the Public Sector Prison establishment level to produce the table showing
indicative vacancies at the regional level.</li><li>Target Staffing level is the number
of staff required to run an optimal regime in each prison. This level is greater than
the minimum number of staff required for a prison to operate safely, and includes
allowances for staff taking leave, being off sick or being on training.</li><li>The
Target Staffing Figures are set on a site-specific basis and vary in size.</li><li>Band
3-5 Officers includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officers (including specialists), Band 4 /
Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.</li><li>Target Staffing levels
are established based on a 39-hour working week. Staff in Post (FTE) is set at 1.0
FTE for those on a 39-hour contract / 1.05 FTE for those on a 41-hour contract and
0.95 FTE for those on a 37-hour contract.</li><li>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 currently regularly present vacancy data and the data presented should
be treated as indicative.</li><li>Staff in Post data used to calculate an indicative
number of vacancies does not take into account those on long-term absences (e.g. career
breaks) / loans / secondments / agency staff or other forms of overtime.</li><li>There
will be some prisons in our data who appear to have a surplus of staff at the Band
3 or Band 4 grades whereas in reality some of these staff are temporarily promoted
to more senior grades. Temporary promotions will not be visible in this data and so
these roles will appear as vacancies.</li></ol>
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