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Prison Officers

Question for Ministry of Justice

UIN 1220, tabled on 12 February 2020

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the ratio of prison officers to inmates in prisons in England and Wales was, by category of prison in each of the last five years.

Answered on

25 February 2020

The table below sets out the overall ratios of total prison officers to prisoners by category of prison for the past 5 years (for public sector prisons).

The table demonstrates a positive trend, with increasingly more prison officers to prisoners over time. We have invested significantly in increasing staff numbers, recruiting an additional 4,581 (full time equivalent) prison officers between October 2016 and September 2019, surpassing our original target of 2,500.

During periods of prisoner unlock, the minimum number of staff on each residential unit is determined by ‘Safe, Decent and Secure Operating Levels’ (SDSOLs) which are agreed in each establishment. Several factors influence SDSOLs such as design and size of a residential unit, specialist functions or prisoner cohort.

Table 1 - Ratio of Band 3 to 5 prison officers1 to prisoners in public sector prisons, by category of prison2,3, as at 30th June for years 2015 to 2019

30 Jun 2015

30 Jun 2016

30 Jun 2017

30 Jun 2018

30 Jun 2019

Cluster

4.9

4.7

4.7

4.0

3.6

Female closed

2.4

3.4

3.2

3.0

2.6

Female local

2.8

2.3

2.9

2.3

2.3

Female open

4.2

3.9

3.4

3.4

3.1

Immigration Removal Centre

2.4

1.4

3.3

2.2

1.9

Male category B

3.8

3.8

3.8

3.3

3.1

Male category C

5.0

5.0

4.7

3.8

3.9

Male closed YOI

3.3

3.5

3.2

3.1

2.9

Male dispersal

1.8

1.7

1.7

1.5

1.6

Male local

4.1

4.1

3.8

3.0

2.8

Male open

7.5

8.0

8.3

7.9

8.3

Male open YOI4

2.5

2.9

2.9

2.8

2.9

Male YOI category C trainer4

1.5

2.4

2.5

2.2

2.0

Male YOI (ages 15-21)4

1.2

1.1

1.1

1.1

0.8

Male YOI (ages 15-17)4

1.6

1.6

1.9

1.3

1.1

Total

3.9

3.9

3.8

3.2

3.1

Notes

  1. Includes Band 3-4/ prison officers (including specialists), Band 4/ supervising officers and Band 5/ custodial managers. Only staff working in Prison and Youth Custody Service (YCS) establishments are included, and those working in HQ or other areas are excluded.
  2. Establishments are allocated to a category as it was at the latest date rather than the category as it was at the specific snapshot point of the table.
  3. Where an establishment holds different categories of prisoner it is not possible to disaggregate the staffing. All staff are allocated to the primary category of the establishment.
  4. YOIs under the YCS category are responsible for young people aged 10-17 years (although some individuals may turn 18 whilst in these establishments but may not move to the adult estate if they are very close to the end of their sentence) with the exception of Feltham which also holds young adults up to 21 years of age.