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Written question asked by Theresa Villiers (Conservative) on Monday, 31 October 2022, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 3 November 2022 (named day). It was answered by Damian Hinds (Conservative) on Thursday, 3 November 2022 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

National Offender Management Service

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the leadership of the National Offender Management Service on recruitment and retention of staff.

Answer

Having experienced staff in our prisons is vital to ensuring prisons remain safe, secure and decent. Ministers receive regular briefings from Prison Service leadership on prison resourcing and proactive measures are being taken to improve recruitment and retention.

There are recruitment campaigns open for all prisons with vacancies and a tailored approach to recruitment advertising is being taken at sites where it is harder to recruit.

We made a significant investment in pay for prison staff through the 2022/23 pay award. This delivered an increase in base pay of at least 4% for all staff between bands 2 to 11, alongside further targeted pay rises for our lowest paid staff of up to £3,000.

Since April 2022, we have also invested in several new initiatives to improve the experience of our new joiners and increase retention. These include a new peer-to-peer learning scheme, the introduction of mentors for new prison officers, piloting additional staff support and supervision in two prisons, and new leadership training in prisons facing retention challenges.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
74579
Session
2022-23
Subjects
Recruitment National Offender Management Service Labour turnover
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk