Parliamentary Questions regarding Pay Review Body

Prison Service: Resignations

Question for Ministry of Justice

UIN 136497, tabled on 12 January 2021

Question

 

Grahame Morris

Labour

Easington  Commons

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Prison Service Pay Review Body’s Nineteenth Report on England and Wales 2020, section 3.35, what estimate he has made of the annual cost to the public purse of new recruits leaving the Prison Service after less than two years of service.

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Answer

 

Lucy Frazer

Conservative

South East Cambridgeshire  Commons

Answered on 18 January 2021

New recruits leaving the prison service after less than two years is detrimental to the running of our prisons. This represents both a financial and non-financial loss that is difficult to quantify, hence this is something my department do not calculate.

My efforts are instead focused on retaining our staff, by upholding a fair and competitive salary; investing in training and professionalisation; and maintaining and improving the safety and security of prisons, for example with tools like PAVA and body-worn cameras.

This year, staff wellbeing is ever more important. This remains a fundamental part of retaining our staff, particularly for new officers as they settle into their challenging roles. All staff have access to support, including 24/7 counselling, trauma support and occupational health assessments, which provide the critical pathways of support for both mental and physical health needs for staff.

 

 

Prison Officers: Pay

Question for Ministry of Justice

 

UIN 136498, tabled on 12 January 2021

Question

 

Grahame Morris

Labour

Easington  Commons

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Prison Service Pay Review Body’s Nineteenth Report on England and Wales 2020, Recommendation 3, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of increasing annual pay for Fair and Sustainable National Band 3 Prison Officers by £3,000.

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Answer

 

Lucy Frazer

Conservative

South East Cambridgeshire  Commons

Answered on 18 January 2021

The 20/21 PSPRB report included a recommendation, recommendation 3, to uplift the pay of Band 3 prison staff on F&S terms by £3,000. This recommendation was ultimately rejected by the government and this was announced on 10 December 2020. Nonetheless, this was the third year in a row that prison staff have benefitted from an award of at least 2% - which delivered an above inflation increase.

The Department estimates the total cost of increasing annual pay for all Fair and Sustainable Band 3 Prison Officers by £3,000 to be around £35.3m. However, the total cost of this £3,000 increase would be around £46.8m, as the £3,000 uplift would also be applied to non-operational prison service colleagues paid within the same band.

Prison Officers working in the 31 ‘Market Supplement’ sites (primarily in London and the South East), already receive a supplement of £3,000 - £5,000 to support recruitment and retention.

Representing over 30,000 Prison, Correctional and Secure Psychiatric Workers, the POA is the largest UK Union in this sector, able to trace its roots back more than 100 years.