The quarterly HMPPS workforce statistics publication covers staffing information, including leavers, and the latest publication covers data up to 30 September 2023. Figures for the remainder of 2023 are due for publication on 15 February 2023 and therefore this information cannot be released at this time.<\/p>
In the period from 01 January 2023 to 30 September 2023, there were 3,967 band 3-5 prison officers who joined HM Prison and Probation Service. Details of the number and proportion who have left the Prison Service (including the Youth Custody Service) as of 30 September 2023 are given in the table below.<\/p>
Table 1: Status of band 3-5 prison officers1 <\/sup>who joined2 <\/sup>between 1 January 2023 and 30 September 2023 - as of 30 September 2023<\/p> Remained or left<\/p><\/td> Headcount<\/p><\/td> Percentage<\/p><\/td><\/tr> Still working in prisons ( including YCS)3<\/sup><\/p><\/td> 3,627<\/p><\/td> 91.4%<\/p><\/td><\/tr> Left HMPPS altogether<\/p><\/td> 340<\/p><\/td> 8.6%<\/p><\/td><\/tr> Total<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 3,967<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 100.0%<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table> Notes<\/p> 1. Includes Bands 3-4 / Prison Officer (incl specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officer and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.<\/p> 2. New recruits joining HMPPS - does not include internal transfers or conversions.<\/p> 3. Even though these staff are still working in prisons they may no longer be in prison officer roles due to staff movements etc<\/p> <\/p> Appropriate staffing across our prison estate is vitally important. In line with Prisons Strategy White Paper, published in December 2021, we are committed to recruiting up to 5,000 additional prison officers across public and private prisons by the mid-2020s in line with estate expansion. The number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) prison officers has increased over time. As of 30 September 2023, there has been increase of 1,441 FTE (6.7%) since 30 September 2022. For prison officers, there has been an increase of 632 FTE (2.8%) compared to June 2023. Over the year to 30 September 2023, 5,377 band 3 to 5 offers were appointed (consisting of new recruits and existing staff who converted to a band 3 officer grade).<\/p> In late 2021, HM Prison Service launched a retention tool kit to help Governors to tackle the main drivers of attrition in their prisons. We are using the data from this and enhanced exit interviews to better understand why employees are leaving.<\/p> HM Prison Service made a significant investment in pay for prison staff through the 2023/24 pay awards. This delivered an increase of at least 5% for all Prison Service staff, with prison officers receiving a 7% increase. Since 2019, the starting salary increased for an entry level prison officer from £23,529 to £32,851 (national rate, 39-hour week with unsocial hours).<\/p> Since April 2022, HM Prison Service have invested in several new initiatives to improve the experience of our new joiners and increase retention of our employees. These include a new peer-to-peer learning scheme, the introduction of mentors for new staff, a supervision pilot in two prisons, and new leadership training in prisons facing retention challenges.<\/p> These measures are working. In the 12 months to 30 September 2023, resignation rates for band 3-5 prison officers fell to 8.6%.<\/p> <\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4362", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Edward Argar"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Charnwood"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Edward Argar"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-02-01", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
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, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-02-01T14:13:28.21Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
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, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2024-01-29", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Prison Officers: Labour Turnover"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prison officers recruited in 2023 have left the prison service.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4389", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Ruth Cadbury"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Brentford and Isleworth"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Ruth Cadbury"}
], "uin" : "11801"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1674029", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1674029/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " In late 2021, the Ministry of Justice launched a retention toolkit to help Senior Leaders across HMPPS including Governors/Directors to tackle the main drivers of attrition in their departments and improve retention levels. We are using the data from enhanced exit interviews to better understand why experienced Prison Officers are leaving.<\/p> <\/p> We made a significant investment in pay for prison staff through the 2023/24 pay award. This delivered an increase in base pay of at least 7% for all staff between bands 2 to 5 which includes Prison Officers.<\/p> <\/p> Since April 2022, we have invested in\u202fseveral\u202fnew initiatives to increase retention of our employees including Prison Officers. These include a new peer-to-peer learning scheme, the introduction of new staff mentors to support new Prison Officers 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 two prisons alongside the introduction of new leadership training, which will contribute to supporting career development and retention of experienced officers.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4362", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Edward Argar"}
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, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Charnwood"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Edward Argar"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2023-12-08", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2023-12-08T14:14:16.383Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2023-11-29", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Prison Officers: Labour Turnover"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to increase retention levels of experienced prison officers.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4747", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Tahir Ali"}
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, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Birmingham, Hall Green"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Tahir Ali"}
], "uin" : "4563"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1504740", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1504740/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " The leaving rate for prisons officers can be accessed online through HMPPS workforce quarterly, the most recent of which was for June 2022. The table below contains the leaving rate for Band 3-5 Prison officers in each of past five years:<\/p> Year<\/strong><\/p><\/td> Leaving Rate (%)[1]<\/strong><\/p><\/td><\/tr> 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 10.3<\/p><\/td><\/tr> 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 11.5<\/p><\/td><\/tr> 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 12.2<\/p><\/td><\/tr> 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 9.1<\/p><\/td><\/tr> 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 14.5<\/p><\/td><\/tr> 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 15.3<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table> Source: HMPPS Workforce Quarterly, June 2022<\/em><\/strong><\/p> [1] Leaving rate denotes the percentage of staff with a permanent contract of employment who left HMPPS, including individuals who have retired early, but excluding staff who left due to voluntary early departure schemes and redundancy (VEDSR).<\/p> We are addressing recent increases in leaving rates via dedicated recruitment and retention efforts across the board. We are also working to improve the joining experience of new employees, via increased clarity in marketing materials and increased support for new joiners via Apprenticeship coaches and New Colleague Mentors (since April 2022).<\/p> We hope that the significant rises in pay for prison staff will also help to reduce leaving rates, and we are continuing to use localised market supplements to increase prison officer pay in 18 sites.<\/p> We are committed to providing the high-quality prison places that are needed over the coming years and ensuring that they are adequately resourced and supported by sufficient prison officer staffing levels, as well as other key members of the workforce such as teachers, instructors, chaplaincy and probation staff.<\/p> The staffing requirements for new establishments continue to be assessed and factored into vacancies up to 18 months in advance in order to ensure we recruit on time and build up the experience needed to deliver safe and secure regimes<\/p> <\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4941", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Bellamy"}
}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Bellamy"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2022-09-20", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2022-09-20T13:45:43.857Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2022-09-05", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Prison Officers: Labour Turnover"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the turnover of prison officers in each of the last five years, and (2) their ability to recruit prison officers needed to staff any planned new prisons.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1137", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Patten"}
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, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Patten"}
], "uin" : "HL2151"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1470708", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1470708/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " There is a national focus on improving staff retention rates across HMPPS.<\/p> This includes, but is not restricted to:<\/p>