Prison Officer Recruitment Targets

Josh MacAlister, the Labour MP for Whitehaven and Workington, asked the Government what steps it plans to take to meet prison officer recruitment targets. In response, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice, Sir Nicholas Dakin, acknowledged that prison officer recruitment targets are essential, and praised the work of prison officers, who have gone "above and beyond" in recent weeks and months. He stated that nationally, the Government is currently above staffing targets, but challenges remain in certain sites with a high number of vacancies, and bespoke interventions are being developed for those sites. Mr. MacAlister thanked the Minister for his answer and praised the Government team for their response to the "complete chaos" left in the wake of 14 years of a Conservative Government. He noted that in his previous work, he had visited young offenders institutions, which he said had been left in "total chaos" by the last Government. He highlighted the Government's "botched recruitment process" for the graduate recruitment training programme for prison officers, which is currently delivered by Unlocked Graduates, and said the Government's chief inspector of prisons has warned that the programme ending could add to the recruitment problems the Government faces. He asked the Minister to restart the procurement process and meet with him to discuss the future of the programme. Sir Nicholas Dakin responded that he is happy to meet with Mr. MacAlister to discuss the matter. He explained that His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service had worked to reprocure the next iteration of the graduate scheme, with contracts for an open procurement exercise. He said that although Unlocked Graduates was identified as the winning bidder and was offered the contract, it did not confirm its intent to sign the contract. The Minister stated that the Department is now working hard to come up with plans to put a graduate scheme in place for future years.