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Written question asked by Nick Timothy (Conservative) on Thursday, 19 March 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 23 March 2026. It was answered by Jake Richards (Labour) on Friday, 27 March 2026 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.


Prison Officers: Misconduct

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers have been (a) arrested, (b) charged, and (c) prosecuted for having illicit relationships with prison inmates in each year since 2020, broken down by offence group.

Answer

The table below shows the number of prison officers at Bands 3-5 convicted in each of the last five years of an offence of misconduct in public office, where the offence related to an inappropriate relationship with a prisoner.

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025

Misconduct in Public Office

0

3

5

12

6

15

An inappropriate relationship is defined as any relationship that compromises a staff member’s ability to appropriately perform their duties.

The figures in this table have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
122261
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Arrests Misconduct Prosecutions Prisoners Prison officers
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk