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.

Notes

1. Data shows average resource across the month, adjusted for joiners and leavers within the month. Data shown as of March 2024, aligning with the most recent HMPPS Workforce Quarterly publication. More recent data cannot be provided due to potentially pre-empting future statistical publications.
2. Vacancies have been calculated as Target Staffing (Full Time Equivalent - FTE) minus Staff in Post (FTE).
3. Where the number of Staff in Post (FTE) in a region exceeds Target Staffing (FTE), the number of vacancies has been shown as 0 FTE. Summing the figures in the table will not give the overall number of vacancies across the Probation Service due to the surpluses in some regions that haven’t been shown in the table.
4. Vacancies have been netted off between grades and business units. As a result, the overall vacancy figures presented mask the presence of vacancies at both grade and business unit level.
5. Data have been taken from the Workforce Planning Tool and are subject to inaccuracy as a result of the manual nature with which returns are completed. This approach differs from the published statistics, which uses data from the Single Operating Platform (our departmental HR system).
6. Staff in Post (FTE) has not been adjusted for long-term absences (e.g., Trainee Probation Officer training time). In addition, we have not factored in loans / temporary cover / agency and sessional. The actual resourced position will therefore differ as a result of these.
7. Trainee Probation Officers are included in the data. Trainees spend a proportion of their time training and the remainder of their time carrying out work at a Band 3 Probation Services Officer level. Both training time and time spent delivering caseload are included in the Staff in Post (FTE) calculations, which means that number of vacancies is lower than the actual gap between Target Staffing and frontline delivery.

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

*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

1. We do not hold readily accessible and consistent data prior to March 2017. May 2024 data is not yet available (and will not be available until the HMPPS Workforce Statistics publication on 15 August), 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.
2. Data have been taken from Workforce Planning Tool returns and show the average position across May for each year, adjusted for joiners and leavers in the month.
3. Workforce Planning Tools are manually completed by Prisons each month and, as with any manual returns, are subject to human error.
4. The Long Term & High Security Estate includes: Belmarsh, Frankland, Full Sutton, Garth, Gartree, Isle of Wight, Long Lartin, Manchester, Swaleside, Wakefield, Whitemoor and Woodhill. Aylesbury is also included between 2018 and 2022.
5. Indicative vacancies are the difference between Target Staffing and Staff in Post at the overall LTHSE level.
6. Target Staffing (FTE) 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.
7. The Target Staffing figures are set on a site-specific basis and vary in size. Target Staffing figures have been set based on a 39-hour contract or 37-hour contract depending on the job in question.
8. All staffing grades (both operational and non-operational) have been included in this analysis. For some operational grades where Target Staffing levels have been 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.
9. 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 and the data presented should be treated with caution.
10. 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).
11. The above totals are a combination of indicative vacancies at prisons with Staff in Post below their Target Staffing Figure and indicative surplus staff at other prisons where Staff in Post is above their Target Staffing Figure (both following netting off of surpluses and deficits between grades within an establishment). Some prisons with surplus staff are sending proportions of those staff to work on Detached Duty at prisons with vacancies, and therefore netting some of these indicative vacancies against surpluses provides a more reasonable reflection of the overall national or regional position.

We closely monitor staffing levels across the estate via a number of internal governance forums, which assess the vacancy levels for individual prisons and across regions and functions, including the Long Term High Security Estate (LTHSE). Vacancies are one of a number of contributory factors that determine HMPPS' assessment of risk and stability within prisons. We will always ensure that prisons are sufficiently staffed to deliver safe and secure regimes. Where establishments feel that their staffing levels will affect stability or regime, including because of vacancies, there are a number of ways they can maximise the use of their own resource and seek support from other establishments in the short term, through processes managed nationally at Agency level. These include overtime payments and support via Detached Duty staff from other prisons.

We are continuing recruitment activity at all sites with a current or future need, including in the LTHSE. Nationally, we have seen a substantial improvement in the national staffing picture within prisons over the past year. The number of Band 3-5 prison officers increased by 1,634 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) between December 2022 and December 2023, 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, our first-ever nationwide advertising campaign, incentivized recruitment schemes where we incentivised applicants to relocate to ‘harder-to-staff’ sites, and the Prison Officer Alumni Network, where we have fast-tracked former staff back into the service.

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 has increased by 1,634 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) between December 2022 - 2023, 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.

Table One below shows the number of indicative vacancies for Band 3 Prison Officers in the Long Term & High Security Estate (for prisons in the South) for January 2018, January 2019, January 2020, January 2021, January 2022 and January 2023. Data is not held for the period January 2017 and has not been provided.

In reality, many establishments will routinely sit marginally below their Target Staffing level due to normal attrition and time to hire and so we would not expect establishments to run consistently at 100% staffing.

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 Band 3 Prison Officer Indicative Vacancies across Long Term & High Security Estate (LTHSE) South, January 2018 to January 2023

Notes

• All data is taken from Workforce Planning Tool returns and show the average position across January for each year, adjusted for joiners and leavers in the month.
• Workforce Planning Tool returns are manually completed by Prisons each month and, as with any manual returns, are subject to human error.
• Data shows average resource across the month, adjusted for joiners and leavers in the month.
• The Long Term & High Security Estate South includes: Belmarsh, Isle of Wight, Long Lartin, Swaleside, Whitemoor and Woodhill.
• Indicative vacancies are the difference between Target Staffing levels and Staff in Post at an individual establishment level. Where Staff in Post (FTE) exceeds Target Staffing (FTE) for an establishment, the number of indicative vacancies has been shown as 0 FTE. Indicative vacancies have been summed across establishments to give the number of indicative vacancies for LTHSE South.
• 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.
• The Target Staffing Figures are set on a site-specific basis and vary in size. Over the reporting period in question, Target Staffing levels for the LTHSE estate has increased which in part explains the increase in vacancies.
• Band 3 Prison Officers include 'Prison Officer - Band 3' and 'Prison Officer - Youth Justice Worker - Band 3'.
• 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.
• 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 Ministry of Justice does not regularly present vacancy data and the data presented should be treated with caution.
• 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).
• 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

* 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.

Notes on data in this response

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Workforce Planning Tool returns are manually completed by staff in prisons each month and, as with any manual returns, are subject to human error.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. The Target Staffing Figures are set on a site-specific basis and vary in size.
8. Band 3-5 Officers includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officers (including specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.

I refer the honourable Member to the answer I gave on Wednesday 20 March to Question 18474. Data was provided on the average number of vacancies for the month of December 2023, in line with our latest published workforce statistics (which present data up to 31 December 2023).

We are unable to provide a more up-to-date number of vacancies at the current time (for periods following December 2023) as this would pre-empt the next set of published 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 respond to questions for vacancy data up to and including March 2024.

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 a record 4,039 trainee Probation Officers between 2020/21 and 2022/23 and we expect these intakes to qualify by the end of 2024 and begin to take on Probation Officer caseloads.

The workforce position, at 31 December 2023, was 20,806 full-time equivalent (FTE) Staff in Post working in Probation Service grades (including those working in Approved Premises). This is an increase of 1,856 FTE (9.8%) since 31 December 2022.

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 a record 4,039 trainee Probation Officers between 2020/21 and 2022/23 and we expect these intakes to qualify by the end of 2024 and begin to take on Probation Officer caseloads.

Trainee Probation Officers are onboarded twice annually (including this March which will not be counted in the figures below), and this can lead to fluctuations in staffing levels across the year.

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, December 2023, all Probation Service grades.

Notes

1. Data shows average resource across the month, adjusted for joiners and leavers within the month. Data shown as of December 2023, aligning with the most recent HMPPS Workforce Quarterly publication. More recent data cannot be provided due to potentially pre-empting future statistical publications.
2. Vacancies have been calculated as Required Staffing (FTE) minus Staff in Post (FTE).
3. Where the number of Staff in Post (FTE) in a region exceeds Required Staffing (FTE), the number of vacancies has been shown as 0 FTE. Summing the figures in the table will not give the overall number of vacancies across the Probation Service due the surpluses in some regions that haven’t been shown in the table.
4. Vacancies have been netted off between grades and business units. As a result, the overall vacancy figures presented mask the presence of vacancies at both grade and business unit level.
5. Data have been taken from the Workforce Planning Tool and are subject to inaccuracy as a result of the manual nature with which returns are completed. This approach differs from the published statistics, which uses data from the Single Operating Platform (our departmental HR system).
6. Staff in Post (FTE) has not been adjusted for long-term absences (e.g. Trainee Probation Officer training time). In addition, we have not factored in loans / temporary cover / agency and sessional. The actual resourced position will therefore differ as a result of these.
7. Trainee Probation Officers are included in the data. Trainees spend a proportion of their time training and the remainder of their time carrying out work at a Band 3 PSO level. Both training time and time spent delivering caseload are included in the Staff in Post (FTE) calculations, which means that number of vacancies is lower than the actual gap between Required Staffing and frontline delivery.

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.

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. Prisons with surplus staff are likely to be sending those staff to work on Detached Duty at prisons with vacancies, and therefore netting vacancies against surpluses is a reasonable reflection of the overall national position.

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.

Notes

1. All data is taken from Workforce Planning Tool returns and shows the average position across the month, adjusted for joiners and leavers in the month.
2. Data only covers Public Sector Prison establishments in England 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.
3. Workforce Planning Tool returns are manually completed by staff in prisons each month and, as with any manual returns, are subject to human error.
4. Indicative vacancies are the difference between Target Staffing levels and Staff in Post across the entire Public Sector Prison estate in England at prisons 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 at prisons where Staff in Post is above their Target Staffing level.
5. 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.
6. The Target Staffing Figures are set on a site-specific basis and vary in size.
7. Band 3-5 Officers includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officers (including specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.

Given that the existing prisons in Buckinghamshire cannot recruit to fill staffing vacancies, where does the Ministry of Justice

think it will magic up staff and prison officers for the mega-prison that it now has planning permission for in my constituency?

The following table provides information relating to staff in the Youth Custody Service who are directly employed by H M Prison & Probation Service. This comprises operational and administrative staff at public sector young offender institutions, plus headquarters staff:

Staffing data for HMYOI Parc, Secure Training Centre and Secure Children’s Homes is not included in this data.

To boost retention levels and reduce vacancies, YCS continue to focus on staff recruitment and retention. Retention support is being provided at Feltham A and Cookham Wood to address attrition. As part of the HMPPS retention oversight process, all establishments have a Retention Action Plan in place. These plans focus improvement on areas identified by staff in exit interviews, when asked to explain their decision to leave the Youth Custody Service (YCS). Additionally, in response to exit interview data, the YCS has reviewed advertising and recruitment material, to increase attraction.

We have increased national recruitment of Prison Officers and Youth Justice staff through a dedicated national campaign and new marketing and are engaged in national campaigns to increase attraction to administrative roles.

To further increase retention levels and reduce vacancies, the YCS has commissioned a staffing resource review across all four public sector YOIs. This includes assessing the balance of management and frontline staff. Feltham A has been completed and a delivery plan will be implemented this Spring (impacts will be closely evaluated). Cookham Wood YOI will be the next site subject to review commencing in early 2024, followed by the remaining public YOIs.

Workforce figures have only been published up to September 2023. Data up to December 2023 is set to be published on the 15 February 2024 and until these workforce figures are released, we are unable to respond to this question as any data provided could pre-empt the February publication.

Notes:

The workforce figures will be published here - https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-offender-management-service-workforce-statistics.

Table One: Vacancies across Probation Service Regions, September 2023, all Probation Service grades

Data shows average resource across the month, adjusted for joiners and leavers within the month. Data shown as of September 2023, aligning with the most recent HMPPS Workforce Quarterly publication. More recent data cannot be provided due to potentially pre-empting future statistical publications.

Recruitment and retention remain a priority across the Probation Service. We have injected extra funding of more than £155 million a year to deliver more robust supervision, recruit thousands more staff and reduce caseloads to keep the public safer.

We continue to focus efforts on enhanced, centralised recruitment campaigns in priority regions alongside regional recruitment to help bolster the number of applications and improve time to hire for key operational roles. We have also accelerated recruitment of trainee Probation Officers (PQiPs) to increase staffing levels, particularly in Probation Delivery Units with the most significant staffing challenges. As a result, over 4,000 PQiPs joined the service between 2020/21 and 2022/23 which will increase Probation Officer staffing numbers.

The Probation Service is in its second year of a multi-year pay deal for staff. Salary values of all pay bands will increase each year, targeted at key operational grades to improve a challenging recruitment and retention position. The Probation Service has also introduced a Prioritisation Framework to provide clarity on prioritisation of tasks and what can be reduced/paused when capacity issues begin to impact on operational delivery.

Notes

As of September 2023, there were 150 FTE vacancies across Probation Delivery Units (PDUs) in the London Probation Service region. This is a net figure across Probation Service grades with surpluses in some grades and PDUs and deficits for others. This figure excludes surpluses and deficits in non-Probation Delivery Unit business units within the London Probation Service region.

Recruitment and retention remain a priority across the Probation Service. We have accelerated recruitment of trainee Probation Officers (PQiPs) to increase staffing levels, particularly in Probation Delivery Units (PDUs) with the most significant staffing challenges. As a result, over 4,000 PQiPs joined the service between 2020/21 and 2022/23 which we anticipate will start to directly impact reduction of caseloads. We continue to run centralised recruitment campaigns in priority regions to help bolster the number of applications and improve time to hire for key operational roles.

The Probation Service is in its second year of a multi-year pay deal for staff. Salary values of all pay bands will increase each year, targeted at key operational grades to improve a challenging recruitment and retention position.

Notes

1. Vacancies have been calculated as the difference between Target Staffing and Staff in Post (FTE - Full Time Equivalent).

2. Staff in Post data has been taken from an internal data source, completed by regions each month. This is subject to error as a result of the manual nature with which returns are completed.

3. Staff in Post data have been taken from internal management information and as such, may not align exactly with published quarterly statistics.

4. Data shows the net number of vacancies, with surpluses in some grades taken into account alongside vacancies for other grades.

5. Data shows the average number of vacancies across the month, adjusted for joiners and leavers within the month.

6. September 2023 is the most recent time point for which we have vacancy level information available.

7. Greater London has been interpreted as meaning the London Probation Service region. No Probation Delivery Units have been included from other Probation Service Regions.

8. Data presented does not factor in surpluses or deficits for those working in non-Probation Delivery Unit business units in London.

9. In calculating vacancies, Trainee Probation Officers have been included as full FTEs (Full Time Equivalents).

10. Data does not take into account long-term absences / loans / temporary cover / agency staff or sessional staff.

Total Band 3-5 Prison Officer indicative vacancies (FTE) across Public Sector Prison Establishments in England & Wales, June 2023

We have only provided data for June 2023, aligning with the most recent data published in the HMPPS Workforce Quarterly Statistics (scheduled for 16 November 2023). This is because vacancy figures, whilst not published are linked to information that will be released shortly and could therefore prejudice the proper release of that data. Therefore we are only able to provide a limited response.

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 hired over 4,000 additional officers since March 2017 and retention rates for prison staff are improving.

• All data is taken from Workforce Planning Tools and shows the average position across the month, adjusted for joiners and leavers in the month.
• Data only covers prison establishments and will not reflect any Band 3 – 5 Prison Officers who are working in headquarters establishments.
• Workforce Planning Tool returns are manually completed by staff in prisons each month and, as with any manual returns, are subject to human error.
• Indicative vacancies are the difference between Target Staffing and Staff in Post across the entire England & Wales prison estate.
• Target Staffing 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.
• The Target Staffing Figures are set on a site-specific basis and vary in size.
• Band 3-5 Officers includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officers (including specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• The above 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. In reality, prisons with surplus staff are likely to be sending those staff to work on Detached Duty at prisons with vacancies, and therefore netting vacancies against surpluses is a fair reflection of the overall national position.