There are 40 per cent fewer experienced prison officers in England and Wales than in 2010, a FactCheck analysis shows.
We are talking about officers who have at least five years of service under their belts.
And the picture looks worse if you consider the officers who have at least ten years of service – there is half of that number compared to 2010.
Our findings come as the government announced an extra £100m for HMP Wandsworth, after receiving a “catastrophic review” from the chief inspector of prisons, Charlie Taylor.
Wandsworth inspection report
At inspection report to Wandsworth found “chaos” in the prison, and attributed some of the problems to inexperience staff.
Three-quarters of prisoners reported spending at least 22 hours a day locked in their cells.
And the report said “inexperience at every grade of operational staff” prevented them from “making the necessary changes” and moving forward.
This is one of the reports from the prison inspectorate in recent months that has linked the appalling conditions in our prisons to the experiences of staff.
So what has happened to prison staff over the past decade?
FactCheck analysis: 40 percent fewer experienced officers
FactCheck analysis of data conducted by the Ministry of Justice shows that the number of prison officers with at least five years of experience has decreased by 40 percent since 2010.
And the number of officers with at least ten years of experience has dropped by 55 percent.
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In 2010, the majority – about 80 percent – of prison officers had more than five years of experience on the job.
But today, only half of prison officers have this experience.
So how did we get here?
Prison staff since 2010
Under the Coalition government in the early 2010s, the number of prison officers fell by a quarter.
The Voluntary Early Departure Scheme in those years was evident hundreds experienced officers are out of the workforce. And some new officers were hired.
At character from 2014, for example, paint a stark picture – only 45 new officers were hired in the year, while almost 3,000 left the service.
And more than 2,300 of those who left that year served more than ten years.
The overall number of prison officers began to recover from 2018, as the Conservative government did recruitment drive.
However, the overall number of officers is still 5 percent less than in 2010.
And if you think it’s because we have fewer prisoners – no. The prison population is about 3 percent higher.
The number of experienced officers is worst
And most importantly, the number of experienced officers is the most severe – and has never recovered.
Why? Well, part of the reason is that new officers don’t stay in the service long enough to gain experience.
Ministry of Justice data showed that around 13 per cent of frontline officers left the service in the past year. This high turnover means that the workforce is constantly being expanded by new, inexperienced staff.
And the lack of recruitment in the early 2010s meant that many potential officers, who could now have more than a decade of experience, were absent.
Worse outcomes for prisoners
Experts link the experience of staff to problems in prisons.
New inspectorate of justice report highlighted how many prison officers are new to the job, they are “nervous” to let prisoners out of their cells.
Inspectorate of prisons suggest that prisoners must be “locked up” for at least ten hours a day.
But, he said final annual report that many male prisoners take less than two hours out of their cells each day.
And this was echoed in this week’s report to HMP Wandsworth, with three quarters of prisoners saying they took less than two hours out of their cells.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said:
“The Government has taken immediate action to tackle the serious problems facing our prison system, to ensure we can lock up dangerous offenders, protect the public and make prisons safer for our hard-working staff.”
“We have also recently agreed a five per cent pay rise which will raise the starting salary of prison officers to more than £34,000 and ensure we can recruit and retain the staff we need to help offenders to break their crimes.”
(Image credit: Juiced Up Media/Shutterstock)
