Hansard

Prison Service: Manpower

Volume 463: debated on Monday 23 July 2007

Download text
Back to top Previous debate Next debate

Mr. Garnier

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prison officers were working in the Prison Service in each year since 1997; what the average prison officer to prisoner ratio was at each (a) adult prison, (b) young offender institution and (c) secure training centre in each year; what plans he has to increase the number of prison officers; and if he will make a statement. (150709)

Mr. Hanson

The available information (we do not have complete information for private sector prisons or secure training units STCs) is set out in the tables.

There are no figures available for STCs but the supervision level is typically one member of staff to between 2.5 - 3.5 young offenders.

In the public sector Prison Service a Business Change Team will work alongside the HR Directorate to plan and co-ordinate recruitment activity for new prisoner places and the transfer of experienced staff to enable new prisoner places to operate effectively. Normal recruitment activity continues to be largely managed at area level to ensure that staffing continues within agreed operating margins.

Officer grade staff in public sector Prison Service and contracted prisons1,2,3,4

Date as at 31 March:

Officers

1997

23,058

1998

23,602

1999

24,113

2000

24,346

20015

24,023

20025

23,681

2003

24,527

20045

25,461

20055

26,246

2006

26,747

2007

27,053

1 Figures include both publicly and privately managed prison establishments but not secure training centres.

2 Figures are provided on a headcount basis ie part-time officers count as one.

3 Figures relate to prison officers, senior officers and principal officers within the public sector Prison Service and prison custody officers within contracted prisons

4 Officers employed within public sector Prison Service Headquarters are included

5 The data for private sector prisons are incomplete.

Prisoner to officer ratio at adult establishments—1997-08 to 2006-071,2

1997-98

1998-99

1999-2000

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

Acklington

3.6

3.6

3.2

3.4

3.6

3.8

3.9

3.8

3.9

3.8

Albany

2.4

2.6

2.8

3.0

3.0

3.1

3.4

3.4

3.5

3.5

Aldington

1.7

3.2

1.8

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Ashwell

4.5

4.4

4.1

3.9

3.9

4.9

4.7

4.9

5.0

5.2

Askham Grange

4.2

4.5

4.4

4.0

4.4

4.4

4.0

3.4

3.3

3.7

Bedford

2.2

2.2

2.3

2.2

2.8

3.5

3.5

3.6

3.3

3.4

Belmarsh

1.6

1.5

1.4

1.5

1.6

1.7

1.7

1.7

1.8

1.8

Birmingham

2.7

3.1

3.1

3.0

2.8

2.9

2.5

2.8

2.8

2.7

Blakenhurst3

—

—

—

—

7.8

5.5

4.9

3.6

4.1

4.1

Blantyre House

4.0

3.5

3.3

3.3

3.4

3.4

3.5

3.8

3.7

3.9

Blundeston

2.5

2.1

2.3

2.5

2.6

2.9

3.0

3.1

3.1

3.1

Bristol

1.8

1.8

1.7

1.5

1.9

2.1

2.2

2.2

2.3

2.5

Brixton

1.7

2.1

2.4

2.5

2.8

3.1

3.5

3.6

3.4

3.6

Brockhill

1.5

1.7

1.6

1.6

1.7

1.6

1.5

1.4

1.3

1.6

Buckley Hall3

—

—

—

3.9

3.1

2.3

2.7

2.8

2.0

3.6

Bullingdon

2.7

3.5

3.4

3.2

3.6

4.0

4.3

4.2

4.0

3.9

Bullwood Hall

1.9

1.9

1.7

2.1

2.3

2.2

1.9

1.8

1.8

1.8

Camp Hill

3.1

3.0

3.0

3.2

3.5

3.6

3.8

3.7

3.7

3.7

Canterbury

2.0

2.1

2.2

2.1

2.4

2.5

2.6

2.7

2.9

2.7

Cardiff

2.8

2.8

2.7

2.3

2.8

2.9

2.8

2.8

2.9

3.0

Channings Wood

3.8

4.2

3.8

3.7

3.9

3.9

3.7

3.7

3.9

3.9

Chelmsford

2.2

2.2

2.1

2.0

2.4

2.9

3.1

3.1

3.0

3.0

Coldingley

3.0

3.0

3.0

3.5

3.9

4.0

4.0

4.1

4.2

4.2

Cookham Wood

2.5

2.9

2.7

2.8

2.9

2.5

2.3

2.5

2.0

2.0

Dartmoor

2.8

2.6

2.5

2.7

2.6

3.0

3.5

3.6

3.7

3.7

Dorchester

2.6

2.5

2.6

2.6

2.9

3.0

2.8

2.4

2.3

2.3

Dover

—

—

—

—

1.8

1.7

2.6

2.4

2.6

2.4

Downview

2.9

2.8

2.7

2.7

1.9

2.5

2.1

1.8

2.0

2.6

Drake Hall

4.4

4.2

3.1

2.6

3.3

3.1

3.2

3.3

3.1

3.1

Durham

2.3

2.1

2.1

1.9

1.7

1.7

1.7

1.8

2.4

2.8

East Sutton Park

4.2

4.1

3.6

3.3

3.8

3.9

3.8

3.7

4.2

4.3

Eastwood Park

2.5

2.9

2.6

2.7

2.7

2.5

2.3

2.3

2.0

2.3

Edmunds Hill

—

—

—

—

—

—

2.1

1.1

2.0

2.8

Elmley

3.2

3.5

3.3

3.1

3.4

3.5

3.8

3.8

3.8

4.2

Erlestoke

3.0

3.3

3.1

3.1

3.3

3.7

3.6

3.6

3.7

3.7

Everthorpe

3.5

3.6

3.5

3.5

3.5

3.1

3.6

3.6

3.7

3.8

Exeter

2.3

2.4

2.5

2.4

2.7

2.8

2.8

2.6

2.7

2.7

Featherstone

3.8

3.8

3.7

3.9

4.2

4.3

4.3

4.2

4.2

4.2

Ford

7.5

6.8

5.9

5.7

6.8

8.1

8.2

8.3

8.2

6.9

Foston Hall

1.8

2.5

2.5

2.0

2.4

2.5

2.3

2.1

2.1

1.8

Frankland

1.0

1.0

1.0

1.1

1.3

1.4

1.3

1.2

1.2

1.2

Full Sutton

0.9

1.1

1.1

1.1

1.2

1.2

1.2

1.2

1.2

1.2

Garth

2.7

2.5

2.5

2.5

2.5

2.8

2.9

2.9

2.9

2.5

Gartree

2.3

2.4

2.3

2.1

2.0

2.0

2.3

2.8

2.7

2.7

Gloucester

2.1

2.2

2.2

2.1

2.3

2.6

2.5

2.5

2.4

2.6

Grendon

2.7

2.9

2.7

2.5

2.7

3.1

3.4

3.4

3.3

3.6

Guys Marsh

—

—

—

3.9

4.0

3.8

3.9

3.9

4.1

4.1

Haslar

2.9

3.1

3.1

3.0

3.2

3.0

2.7

2.4

2.6

2.7

Haverigg

3.9

3.5

2.8

3.0

4.1

4.2

4.3

4.2

4.1

4.2

Hewell Grange

6.4

6.8

6.5

6.1

5.8

6.4

5.5

5.4

5.4

5.8

High Down

2.5

2.5

2.3

2.2

2.5

2.7

3.2

3.3

3.3

3.3

Highpoint

3.6

3.1

3.2

3.2

4.9

5.6

4.0

4.3

4.2

4.2

Hollesley Bay

2.6

2.4

2.2

—

2.1

2.8

6.7

5.7

5.5

5.3

Holloway

1.9

1.7

1.7

1.6

1.8

1.9

1.6

1.5

1.6

1.7

Holme House

3.0

3.0

3.0

2.8

3.1

3.1

3.2

3.1

3.2

3.2

Hull

2.0

2.0

1.9

2.1

2.4

2.5

3.0

3.0

3.0

3.1

Kingston

1.6

2.1

2.4

2.4

2.5

2.6

2.2

2.0

2.6

2.6

Kirkham

7.8

7.0

5.4

5.7

5.6

5.6

5.8

5.2

5.0

4.8

Kirklevington Grange

4.2

4.2

4.4

4.6

4.6

4.6

4.9

4.9

4.9

4.9

Lancaster

2.4

2.5

2.1

1.6

2.5

2.8

2.9

2.5

2.8

2.6

Latchmere House

5.0

4.6

4.5

4.7

4.4

4.8

5.1

5.6

5.4

5.3

Leeds

2.5

2.7

2.8

2.8

3.0

3.0

2.9

2.9

2.9

2.7

Leicester

1.7

1.9

2.1

2.1

2.4

2.8

2.8

2.7

2.7

2.6

Lewes

2.3

2.2

2.2

2.2

2.6

3.0

2.9

3.0

3.1

3.2

Leyhill

5.4

5.2

5.4

5.2

5.8

6.7

7.3

7.1

6.2

5.1

Lincoln

2.6

2.1

2.1

2.0

2.3

2.1

2.2

2.1

2.3

2.4

Lindholme

3.5

3.8

3.3

2.9

3.5

3.8

3.6

3.4

3.8

4.1

Littlehey

4.1

3.9

3.9

3.8

4.0

4.4

4.4

4.4

4.4

4.4

Liverpool

2.5

2.5

2.4

2.2

2.5

2.8

3.0

3.2

3.1

3.0

Long Lartin

1.0

1.0

1.0

1.1

1.1

1.1

1.2

1.2

1.2

1.1

Low Newton

—

—

1.2

1.8

2.3

2.3

2.0

2.0

1.7

1.7

Maidstone

2.9

2.8

2.7

2.7

2.0

2.6

3.1

3.6

3.6

3.8

Manchester

2.0

1.9

2.0

2.1

2.6

3.0

3.0

2.7

2.5

2.5

Moorland

2.8

2.8

2.8

2.9

2.9

2.9

3.0

3.0

3.0

3.0

Morton Hall

6.2

6.2

6.1

2.5

2.6

2.8

2.9

2.8

2.5

3.0

New Hall

3.0

2.9

2.8

2.5

2.4

2.0

2.0

1.8

1.6

1.6

North Sea Camp

6.2

5.8

6.0

6.1

5.7

7.1

7.0

5.9

5.4

5.0

Northallerton

—

—

—

2.6

2.6

2.9

—

—

—

—

Norwich

2.8

2.9

2.8

2.6

3.1

3.2

3.2

3.2

3.3

3.1

Nottingham

2.8

2.6

2.5

2.6

2.8

3.1

2.9

2.7

2.5

2.4

Onley

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

2.7

2.8

3.2

Parkhurst

1.4

2.0

2.2

2.2

2.2

2.7

2.5

2.5

2.7

2.7

Pentonville

2.5

2.9

2.9

2.9

3.2

3.2

3.1

3.1

3.0

2.8

Preston

2.2

2.3

2.3

2.0

2.2

2.6

2.8

2.7

2.5

2.7

Ranby

3.8

4.3

3.6

3.5

3.4

3.4

3.4

3.1

3.6

3.8

Risley

2.4

2.4

2.6

2.7

2.9

3.2

3.5

3.7

3.8

3.7

Rochester

2.4

2.3

2.2

2.1

1.6

1.2

—

—

—

—

Send

4.3

1.4

2.1

2.9

3.1

3.5

3.2

3.1

2.6

2.6

Shepton Mallet

2.9

2.9

2.8

2.2

2.6

2.9

2.9

2.9

2.9

3.0

Shrewsbury

2.5

2.6

2.7

2.7

2.9

3.1

3.1

2.8

2.6

3.0

Stafford

3.0

3.0

3.1

3.2

3.4

3.7

3.8

4.0

4.1

4.2

Standford Hill

4.8

4.6

3.8

3.9

4.3

4.8

4.6

4.9

5.5

5.6

Stocken

3.7

4.3

4.0

4.1

4.1

4.2

4.1

4.1

4.1

4.1

Styal

2.4

2.4

2.5

2.4

2.5

2.6

2.4

2.1

2.1

2.3

Sudbury

7.0

7.4

7.4

7.5

8.0

8.0

7.9

8.0

8.1

7.9

Swaleside

2.8

2.8

2.9

3.0

3.1

3.3

3.2

3.0

3.1

3.4

Swansea

2.6

2.5

2.4

2.2

2.1

2.8

2.6

2.4

2.6

2.8

The Mount

4.3

4.5

4.0

4.6

4.8

5.2

5.1

5.0

4.8

4.6

The Verne

4.2

4.4

4.3

4.5

4.6

4.9

5.2

5.1

5.1

5.3

Usk/Prescoed

3.1

3.4

3.5

3.5

3.7

3.8

4.4

4.4

4.4

4.2

Wakefield

1.5

1.5

1.5

1.5

1.5

1.5

1.5

1.5

1.5

1.8

Wandsworth

2.2

2.8

3.0

3.0

3.4

3.8

3.9

3.8

3.7

3.7

Wayland

4.4

4.3

4.0

4.2

4.4

4.5

4.6

4.6

4.7

4.6

Wealstun

3.9

4.1

4.1

4.1

4.2

3.9

3.6

3.5

4.0

4.0

Weare

—

2.8

2.9

2.9

3.1

3.3

3.2

3.2

5.5

—

Wellingborough

2.8

3.0

2.8

3.2

3.5

3.7

3.4

3.0

3.2

3.6

Whatton

3.1

3.4

3.7

3.7

3.3

3.2

3.4

2.7

1.8

3.4

Whitemoor

1.0

1.1

0.8

0.8

0.8

0.9

0.9

0.9

1.0

1.0

Winchester

2.2

2.4

2.7

2.7

2.7

2.8

3.0

3.0

3.3

3.2

Woodhill

1.9

1.6

1.6

1.5

1.6

1.7

1.7

1.8

1.7

1.8

Wormwood Scrubs

3.0

2.8

2.0

2.5

3.3

4.0

3.8

3.8

3.9

3.9

Wymott

3.3

3.5

3.7

3.8

4.0

3.7

3.3

4.0

4.1

4.0

GSL Prisons4

—

—

—

—

—

—

5.7

5.7

5.5

5.8

Bronzefield

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

3.6

2.8

2.7

Dovegate

—

—

—

—

—

3.8

4.3

3.5

3.6

3.7

Doncaster

—

—

—

—

9.2

6.1

4.5

4.3

4.1

4.4

Forest Bank

—

—

—

—

—

—

5.7

5.7

5.4

5.4

Lowdham Grange

—

—

—

—

3.9

4.2

4.3

4.0

3.7

3.6

Peterborough

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

2.7

3.3

Parc

—

3.9

3.2

3.2

3.5

3.7

3.6

3.5

3.5

3.6

1 The ratio is the average prisoner population against the average number of officer grade staff except for the 1997-98 and 1998-99 officer figures where a snapshot at the start of the year is used. This is the standard form of ratio that is captured.

2 A blank entry means that the establishment was either not open during the year, not that category during the year or, for contracted establishments, officer numbers were not available for the period. An establishment can therefore appear in more than one table.

3 Staff numbers for Blakenhurst and Buckley Hall are not available for the period when they were privately managed.

4 GSL reported staff numbers together for the three prisons they manage—Altcourse, Rye Hill and Wolds.

Prisoner to officer ratios at young offender establishments—1997-08 to 2006-071,2

1997-98

1998-99

1999-2000

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

Aylesbury

2.0

2.0

1.9

2.0

2.0

2.1

2.1

2.1

2.3

2.4

Brinsford

2.6

2.6

2.5

2.2

2.1

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

Castington

2.4

2.6

1.7

1.1

1.4

1.5

1.3

1.7

1.6

1.8

Deerbolt

2.6

2.7

2.7

2.8

2.8

3.0

2.5

2.5

2.2

2.3

Dover

2.7

2.6

2.4

2.5

—

—

—

—

—

—

Feltham

2.7

2.6

2.3

1.8

1.8

1.7

1.5

1.4

1.4

1.5

Glen Parva

2.9

2.8

2.9

2.7

2.8

2.9

3.0

2.8

2.9

3.0

Guys Marsh

3.8

4.0

3.9

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Hindley

2.4

2.2

2.1

2.0

1.9

1.9

2.0

1.9

1.8

2.0

Hollesley Bay

—

—

—

1.9

—

—

—

—

—

—

Huntercombe

2.9

3.0

1.9

2.0

—

—

—

—

—

—

Lancaster Farms

2.6

2.6

2.5

2.4

2.5

2.4

2.1

2.1

2.1

2.1

Low Newton

2.6

1.8

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Moorland

2.8

2.8

2.8

2.9

2.9

2.9

—

—

—

—

Northallerton

2.6

2.9

3.1

—

—

—

3.2

3.2

3.1

3.6

Onley

3.3

3.0

2.6

2.3

2.4

2.4

2.1

—

—

—

Portland

3.2

3.5

3.3

2.9

2.7

2.6

2.6

2.6

2.3

2.7

Reading

1.8

1.9

1.7

1.7

1.9

2.3

2.3

2.2

2.4

2.3

Rochester

—

—

—

—

—

—

1.5

2.4

2.7

2.7

Stoke Heath

3.5

3.3

3.0

2.3

2.3

2.7

2.6

2.7

2.6

2.8

Swinfen Hall

2.3

2.3

2.2

2.3

2.4

2.5

2.6

2.1

2.9

2.9

Thorn Cross

2.1

2.0

2.2

2.0

1.9

1.9

2.0

2.4

2.1

1.9

Usk/Prescoed

3.1

3.4

3.5

3.5

3.7

3.8

—

—

—

—

Werrington

3.3

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Wetherby

2.8

2.2

2.1

1.7

—

—

—

—

—

—

1 The ratio is the average prisoner population against the average number of officer grade staff except for the 1997-98 and 1998-99 officer figures where a snapshot at the start of the year is used. This is the standard form of ratio that is captured.

2 A blank entry means that the establishment was either not open during the year, not that category during the year or, for contracted establishments, officer numbers were not available for the period. An establishment can therefore appear in more than one table.