The cumulative length of service, in years, held by public sector band 3-5 prison officers is given in the following table. Figures are given as at 31 December each year.

Table 1 – Cumulative length of service¹ of public sector band 3-5 prison officers² in England and Wales, as at 31 December each year from 2010 to 2025³

Notes:

1. The length of service in HMPPS is calculated from most recent hire date. Where staff have transferred in from another Government Department or have transferred in through HMPPS taking over a function, length of service is calculated from entry to HMPPS

2. Band 3-5 Officers includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officers (incl. specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers

3. The dates reflect the Full Time Equivalent and cumulative years of service at that particular point of the year.

The cumulative length of service, in years, held by band 3-5 prison officers in public sector prisons is given in the following table. Figures are given as of 31 December each year.

Although national staffing levels have improved, we are focusing on retaining the new intakes of staff. As of December 2024, 39.2% of Band 3-5 prison officers have less than 3 years of experience.

As the figures show, over the last 14 years of Conservative Government, experience of prison officers was allowed to decline. The loss of experienced staff has left the Service with a relatively inexperienced workforce, and we are improving our learning and development offer to upskill these newer colleagues.

We launched The Enable Programme, which is a dedicated HMPPS workforce transformation programme. It aims to transform prisons over the medium term, through a series of workforce and regime changes that will transform how HMPPS trains, develops, leads, and supports prison staff. This includes new training foundation training and upskilling packages for prison officers at the beginning of their service, and a strengthened succession planning and talent pipeline for prison Governors. We have already began rolling this programme out focusing on the most inexperienced staff, first.

Table 1 – Cumulative length of service(1) of band 3-5 prison officers(2) in public sector prisons in England and Wales, as at 31 December each year from 2010 to 2024(3)

Notes

Prison Service staff are some of our finest public servants. Despite their hard work, the Prison Service has been under immense pressure due to an increasing population and ageing estate.

One of the first things this Government did upon coming into office was to accept the independent recommendations of the Prison Service Pay Review Body in full. This delivered a pay rise of 5% for Band 3-5 Prison Officers on modernised terms and conditions. This brings the starting salary for an entry level officer (on the national rate, 39 hours with unsocial hours) from £32,851 to £34,494.

Given the challenges of working in a prison, we provide extensive mental health support, including a 24-hour helpline, confidential counselling, and online wellbeing services. Our Trauma Risk Management practitioners and Care Teams provide further support following any incidents while on duty.

The 2024/25 Prison Service pay award delivered a pay rise of at 5% for all Band 3 – 5 Prison Officers on modernised terms and conditions. This brings the starting salary for an entry level officer (on the national rate, 39 hours with unsocial hours) from £32,851 to £34,494.

As of 30 September 2024, there are 23,571 Band 3-5 Full Time Equivalent Prison Officers in post, and nationally across establishments we are at 99.5% of our Target Staffing Figure (when using hours adjusted FTE). We have seen indications of an improving retention picture in the past two years – as of September 2024, the resignation rate for Band 3-5 prison officers was 8.5%, which is an improvement of 3 percentage points since September 2022 (11.5%).

When asked about their primary reason for leaving the prison service, Pay and Reward no longer consistently features in the top five reasons for leaving as cited by staff in exit interviews.

Pay for Prison Officers is informed by independent recommendations made by the Prison Service Pay Review Body (PSPRB).

HMPPS’ written evidence to the PSPRB for 2025/26 was published on 10 December 2025. This noted that the rate of economic growth since the global financial crisis of 2008 has been substantially lower than in previous decades. Annual real productivity growth (GDP per hour worked) fell by around 1.5% from an average of 2.1% in the decade prior to 2008, to 0.6% between 2010 and 2019. Higher productivity enables higher wages, and only sustained productivity growth over the medium-term can deliver sustainable long-run economic growth and real-terms wage rises.

In making their independent recommendations, the PSPRB takes account of the written and oral evidence submitted by Government as well as evidence and representations made by the recognised Trade Unions, including the Prison Officers’ Association. The PSPRB considers a range of factors such as private sector wage growth, inflation, and future Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts.

Prison officers work in difficult environments every day with some of the most challenging people in society, and we recognise their critical importance in keeping the public safe.

As prison officers’ right to take industrial action is restricted under current legislation, their pay is governed by the independent Prison Service Pay Review Body (PSPRB), which acts as a compensatory mechanism.

Ministers met with trade unions shortly after their appointment to Government and will continue to regularly engage with them going forward. There are no plans to review current legislation related to prison officers’ right to take industrial action.

The pension age in all public sector pension schemes is set under legislation by HM Treasury, and the merits of any review in pension age would be for them to consider. The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice is committed to listening and working with officers, staff and trade unions, and Ministers will continue to meet with the Prison Officer’s Association and other unions to discuss a range of issues.  We highly value our hardworking prison officers and take very seriously the safety of all staff working within prisons, whatever their age.

We have inherited a prison system crisis. For far too long, our hardworking staff have had to face the brunt of prison overcrowding, which has damaged morale and put the safety and security of staff at risk. This is one of the reasons why we have taken difficult but necessary action to rescue the prison system from the point of collapse. We know that sufficient and skilled frontline staffing is fundamental to delivering safe, secure, and rehabilitative prison regimes.

On recruitment, nationally we are currently above target staffing levels for prison officers, although challenges remain in some sites with a high number of vacancies. Recruitment efforts will continue at all sites with a current or projected future need, and we have a number of targeted recruitment interventions that can be deployed where needed.

There are no specific expectations in terms of experience for a new prison officer, but all new joiners have to pass an assessment process, and complete at least 10 weeks’ training prior to starting their roles.

The loss of staff post-Covid has meant that we have significant numbers of prison officers who have recently been recruited. Due to this large intake of new staff, many colleagues lack experience – with over 40% of Band 3-5 prison officers having less than 3 years of experience. We are focused on retaining our dedicated staff, but we know it takes time to build confidence, capability, and the jailcraft skills that are essential to improve the system. HMPPS have in place over 150 New Colleague Mentors across the estate to provide support for all new staff and improve the onboarding process. HMPPS also provides colleagues with its ‘Career Pathways Framework’. This equips staff with information on career options and the variety of job roles available in HMPPS, as well as learning and development programmes.

On prison officer joiners and leavers, data can be found in Tab 8 of the quarterly HMPPS workforce statistics publication, with Tables 1 and 2 showing the number of joiners and leavers in each year to the end of March over the last 5 years, as well as the latest data in the year to the end of June. We have not included Bands 4 and 5 in the joiner data, as we recruit these grades through promotion, apart from re-instatements.

Table 1 – Prison Officer joiners

Table 2 – Prison Officer leavers

To provide the number of prison officers in supervisory roles with less than one year’s experience, we have provided data on Band 4 Supervising Officers, whose role includes overseeing the daily regime of a wing or area of the prison. Tab 4 of the quarterly HMPPS workforce statistics publication gives data on staff length of service for the main operational grades, including Band 3-5 officers. On 30 June 2024 there were four 'Band 4 / Supervising Officer' prison officers in post who had less than one year's experience. The length of service is calculated from the most recent hire date within HMPPS, not from them starting a specific role. It should be noted that if these members of staff were previously employed by HMPPS, left and rejoined, only their latest service would be counted.

We have inherited a prison system crisis. For far too long, our hardworking staff have had to face the brunt of prison overcrowding, which has damaged morale and put the safety and security of staff at risk. This is one of the reasons why we have taken difficult but necessary action to rescue the prison system from the point of collapse. We know that sufficient and skilled frontline staffing is fundamental to delivering safe, secure, and rehabilitative prison regimes.

On recruitment, nationally we are currently above target staffing levels for prison officers, although challenges remain in some sites with a high number of vacancies. Recruitment efforts will continue at all sites with a current or projected future need, and we have a number of targeted recruitment interventions that can be deployed where needed.

There are no specific expectations in terms of experience for a new prison officer, but all new joiners have to pass an assessment process, and complete at least 10 weeks’ training prior to starting their roles.

The loss of staff post-Covid has meant that we have significant numbers of prison officers who have recently been recruited. Due to this large intake of new staff, many colleagues lack experience – with over 40% of Band 3-5 prison officers having less than 3 years of experience. We are focused on retaining our dedicated staff, but we know it takes time to build confidence, capability, and the jailcraft skills that are essential to improve the system. HMPPS have in place over 150 New Colleague Mentors across the estate to provide support for all new staff and improve the onboarding process. HMPPS also provides colleagues with its ‘Career Pathways Framework’. This equips staff with information on career options and the variety of job roles available in HMPPS, as well as learning and development programmes.

On prison officer joiners and leavers, data can be found in Tab 8 of the quarterly HMPPS workforce statistics publication, with Tables 1 and 2 showing the number of joiners and leavers in each year to the end of March over the last 5 years, as well as the latest data in the year to the end of June. We have not included Bands 4 and 5 in the joiner data, as we recruit these grades through promotion, apart from re-instatements.

Table 1 – Prison Officer joiners

Table 2 – Prison Officer leavers

To provide the number of prison officers in supervisory roles with less than one year’s experience, we have provided data on Band 4 Supervising Officers, whose role includes overseeing the daily regime of a wing or area of the prison. Tab 4 of the quarterly HMPPS workforce statistics publication gives data on staff length of service for the main operational grades, including Band 3-5 officers. On 30 June 2024 there were four 'Band 4 / Supervising Officer' prison officers in post who had less than one year's experience. The length of service is calculated from the most recent hire date within HMPPS, not from them starting a specific role. It should be noted that if these members of staff were previously employed by HMPPS, left and rejoined, only their latest service would be counted.

We have inherited a prison system crisis. For far too long, our hardworking staff have had to face the brunt of prison overcrowding, which has damaged morale and put the safety and security of staff at risk. This is one of the reasons why we have taken difficult but necessary action to rescue the prison system from the point of collapse. We know that sufficient and skilled frontline staffing is fundamental to delivering safe, secure, and rehabilitative prison regimes.

On recruitment, nationally we are currently above target staffing levels for prison officers, although challenges remain in some sites with a high number of vacancies. Recruitment efforts will continue at all sites with a current or projected future need, and we have a number of targeted recruitment interventions that can be deployed where needed.

There are no specific expectations in terms of experience for a new prison officer, but all new joiners have to pass an assessment process, and complete at least 10 weeks’ training prior to starting their roles.

The loss of staff post-Covid has meant that we have significant numbers of prison officers who have recently been recruited. Due to this large intake of new staff, many colleagues lack experience – with over 40% of Band 3-5 prison officers having less than 3 years of experience. We are focused on retaining our dedicated staff, but we know it takes time to build confidence, capability, and the jailcraft skills that are essential to improve the system. HMPPS have in place over 150 New Colleague Mentors across the estate to provide support for all new staff and improve the onboarding process. HMPPS also provides colleagues with its ‘Career Pathways Framework’. This equips staff with information on career options and the variety of job roles available in HMPPS, as well as learning and development programmes.

On prison officer joiners and leavers, data can be found in Tab 8 of the quarterly HMPPS workforce statistics publication, with Tables 1 and 2 showing the number of joiners and leavers in each year to the end of March over the last 5 years, as well as the latest data in the year to the end of June. We have not included Bands 4 and 5 in the joiner data, as we recruit these grades through promotion, apart from re-instatements.

Table 1 – Prison Officer joiners

Table 2 – Prison Officer leavers

To provide the number of prison officers in supervisory roles with less than one year’s experience, we have provided data on Band 4 Supervising Officers, whose role includes overseeing the daily regime of a wing or area of the prison. Tab 4 of the quarterly HMPPS workforce statistics publication gives data on staff length of service for the main operational grades, including Band 3-5 officers. On 30 June 2024 there were four 'Band 4 / Supervising Officer' prison officers in post who had less than one year's experience. The length of service is calculated from the most recent hire date within HMPPS, not from them starting a specific role. It should be noted that if these members of staff were previously employed by HMPPS, left and rejoined, only their latest service would be counted.

We have inherited a prison system crisis. For far too long, our hardworking staff have had to face the brunt of prison overcrowding, which has damaged morale and put the safety and security of staff at risk. This is one of the reasons why we have taken difficult but necessary action to rescue the prison system from the point of collapse. We know that sufficient and skilled frontline staffing is fundamental to delivering safe, secure, and rehabilitative prison regimes.

On recruitment, nationally we are currently above target staffing levels for prison officers, although challenges remain in some sites with a high number of vacancies. Recruitment efforts will continue at all sites with a current or projected future need, and we have a number of targeted recruitment interventions that can be deployed where needed.

There are no specific expectations in terms of experience for a new prison officer, but all new joiners have to pass an assessment process, and complete at least 10 weeks’ training prior to starting their roles.

The loss of staff post-Covid has meant that we have significant numbers of prison officers who have recently been recruited. Due to this large intake of new staff, many colleagues lack experience – with over 40% of Band 3-5 prison officers having less than 3 years of experience. We are focused on retaining our dedicated staff, but we know it takes time to build confidence, capability, and the jailcraft skills that are essential to improve the system. HMPPS have in place over 150 New Colleague Mentors across the estate to provide support for all new staff and improve the onboarding process. HMPPS also provides colleagues with its ‘Career Pathways Framework’. This equips staff with information on career options and the variety of job roles available in HMPPS, as well as learning and development programmes.

On prison officer joiners and leavers, data can be found in Tab 8 of the quarterly HMPPS workforce statistics publication, with Tables 1 and 2 showing the number of joiners and leavers in each year to the end of March over the last 5 years, as well as the latest data in the year to the end of June. We have not included Bands 4 and 5 in the joiner data, as we recruit these grades through promotion, apart from re-instatements.

Table 1 – Prison Officer joiners

Table 2 – Prison Officer leavers

To provide the number of prison officers in supervisory roles with less than one year’s experience, we have provided data on Band 4 Supervising Officers, whose role includes overseeing the daily regime of a wing or area of the prison. Tab 4 of the quarterly HMPPS workforce statistics publication gives data on staff length of service for the main operational grades, including Band 3-5 officers. On 30 June 2024 there were four 'Band 4 / Supervising Officer' prison officers in post who had less than one year's experience. The length of service is calculated from the most recent hire date within HMPPS, not from them starting a specific role. It should be noted that if these members of staff were previously employed by HMPPS, left and rejoined, only their latest service would be counted.

We have inherited a prison system crisis. For far too long, our hardworking staff have had to face the brunt of prison overcrowding, which has damaged morale and put the safety and security of staff at risk. This is one of the reasons why we have taken difficult but necessary action to rescue the prison system from the point of collapse. We know that sufficient and skilled frontline staffing is fundamental to delivering safe, secure, and rehabilitative prison regimes.

On recruitment, nationally we are currently above target staffing levels for prison officers, although challenges remain in some sites with a high number of vacancies. Recruitment efforts will continue at all sites with a current or projected future need, and we have a number of targeted recruitment interventions that can be deployed where needed.

There are no specific expectations in terms of experience for a new prison officer, but all new joiners have to pass an assessment process, and complete at least 10 weeks’ training prior to starting their roles.

The loss of staff post-Covid has meant that we have significant numbers of prison officers who have recently been recruited. Due to this large intake of new staff, many colleagues lack experience – with over 40% of Band 3-5 prison officers having less than 3 years of experience. We are focused on retaining our dedicated staff, but we know it takes time to build confidence, capability, and the jailcraft skills that are essential to improve the system. HMPPS have in place over 150 New Colleague Mentors across the estate to provide support for all new staff and improve the onboarding process. HMPPS also provides colleagues with its ‘Career Pathways Framework’. This equips staff with information on career options and the variety of job roles available in HMPPS, as well as learning and development programmes.

On prison officer joiners and leavers, data can be found in Tab 8 of the quarterly HMPPS workforce statistics publication, with Tables 1 and 2 showing the number of joiners and leavers in each year to the end of March over the last 5 years, as well as the latest data in the year to the end of June. We have not included Bands 4 and 5 in the joiner data, as we recruit these grades through promotion, apart from re-instatements.

Table 1 – Prison Officer joiners

Table 2 – Prison Officer leavers

To provide the number of prison officers in supervisory roles with less than one year’s experience, we have provided data on Band 4 Supervising Officers, whose role includes overseeing the daily regime of a wing or area of the prison. Tab 4 of the quarterly HMPPS workforce statistics publication gives data on staff length of service for the main operational grades, including Band 3-5 officers. On 30 June 2024 there were four 'Band 4 / Supervising Officer' prison officers in post who had less than one year's experience. The length of service is calculated from the most recent hire date within HMPPS, not from them starting a specific role. It should be noted that if these members of staff were previously employed by HMPPS, left and rejoined, only their latest service would be counted.

We have inherited a prison system crisis. For far too long, our hardworking staff have had to face the brunt of prison overcrowding, which has damaged morale and put the safety and security of staff at risk. This is one of the reasons why we have taken difficult but necessary action to rescue the prison system from the point of collapse. We know that sufficient and skilled frontline staffing is fundamental to delivering safe, secure, and rehabilitative prison regimes.

On recruitment, nationally we are currently above target staffing levels for prison officers, although challenges remain in some sites with a high number of vacancies. Recruitment efforts will continue at all sites with a current or projected future need, and we have a number of targeted recruitment interventions that can be deployed where needed.

There are no specific expectations in terms of experience for a new prison officer, but all new joiners have to pass an assessment process, and complete at least 10 weeks’ training prior to starting their roles.

The loss of staff post-Covid has meant that we have significant numbers of prison officers who have recently been recruited. Due to this large intake of new staff, many colleagues lack experience – with over 40% of Band 3-5 prison officers having less than 3 years of experience. We are focused on retaining our dedicated staff, but we know it takes time to build confidence, capability, and the jailcraft skills that are essential to improve the system. HMPPS have in place over 150 New Colleague Mentors across the estate to provide support for all new staff and improve the onboarding process. HMPPS also provides colleagues with its ‘Career Pathways Framework’. This equips staff with information on career options and the variety of job roles available in HMPPS, as well as learning and development programmes.

On prison officer joiners and leavers, data can be found in Tab 8 of the quarterly HMPPS workforce statistics publication, with Tables 1 and 2 showing the number of joiners and leavers in each year to the end of March over the last 5 years, as well as the latest data in the year to the end of June. We have not included Bands 4 and 5 in the joiner data, as we recruit these grades through promotion, apart from re-instatements.

Table 1 – Prison Officer joiners

Table 2 – Prison Officer leavers

To provide the number of prison officers in supervisory roles with less than one year’s experience, we have provided data on Band 4 Supervising Officers, whose role includes overseeing the daily regime of a wing or area of the prison. Tab 4 of the quarterly HMPPS workforce statistics publication gives data on staff length of service for the main operational grades, including Band 3-5 officers. On 30 June 2024 there were four 'Band 4 / Supervising Officer' prison officers in post who had less than one year's experience. The length of service is calculated from the most recent hire date within HMPPS, not from them starting a specific role. It should be noted that if these members of staff were previously employed by HMPPS, left and rejoined, only their latest service would be counted.

Currently there are 11 full time and 181 partially retired operational uniform staff who retained Pre-Fresh Start Reserved Rights Terms under the legacy PCSPS Classic scheme. There are also 19 partially retired Operational Managers who retained Pre-Fresh Start terms under the legacy PCSPS Classic scheme at the date of taking their benefits.

Currently there are 11 full time and 181 partially retired operational uniform staff who retained Pre-Fresh Start Reserved Rights Terms under the legacy PCSPS Classic scheme. There are also 19 partially retired Operational Managers who retained Pre-Fresh Start terms under the legacy PCSPS Classic scheme at the date of taking their benefits.

We publish statistics on the number of total assaults, broken down by type of weapon, as part of our Safety in Custody statistics.

Our statisticians regularly review the content of publications and welcome feedback. Development of new and improved statistical outputs is usually dependent on reallocating existing resources. As part of our continual review and prioritisation, we will consider publishing assaults with weapons by victim type.

Assaults by razor should be counted in knife/blade, as the definition is “an object with a sharp edge that is designed to puncture, chop, slice or scrape surfaces, skin, material”. However, as there is no formal reference to razors, we expect that some may also be in the ‘other sharp instrument’ category, defined as “objects or instruments which are able to cut, prick, cause injury and / or infection e.g.,needle, broken glass” and the ‘other’ category.

The number of assaults on prison officers involving razors in the last year could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The number of assaults on prison officers involving razors which have resulted in hospitalisation in the last year could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The number of assaults on prison officers involving razors that have resulted in prison officers leaving the service in the last year could also only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

We are committed to making prisons safe places to work and recognise the risks associated with the current wet shave razor provision. In the 2021 Prison Safety White Paper we committed to trial alternatives to wet shave razors, and during 2022 and 2023 six pilots have been carried out in the male estate and one in the female estate. The evaluation of these pilots will conclude in March 2024 and will inform decisions about future shaving provision in prisons.