England: Half of prison officers do not feel safe at work

Over 80 per cent of the prison officers surveyed say that staff morale is not good, and a large majority do not feel their salaries accurately reflect the responsibilities of their job.

The Justice Committee, which scrutinises the work of the Ministry of Justice on behalf of Parliament, surveyed 6,582 prison staff between 10 February and 6 March 2023. The survey, the first of its type, was advertised internally by the Ministry of Justice and by the prison officers’ trade union, the Prison Officers Association.

The survey’s focus was on operational staff in the prisons of England and Wales who are employed in categories ‘Band 2’ to ‘Band 5’ – the categories which make up most staff. Band 3-5 staff are the prison officers who work at the ‘coal face’, dealing directly with prisoners inside jails. The higher the grade, the more responsibility they have. Band 2 staff are in roles that support prison officers with tasks such as gate procedures, censorship of mail and telephones, and reception duties.

Chair of the Justice Committee, Sir Bob Neill MP, said: “This is a shocking survey. We’ve known as a committee for some time that there are severe staff shortages in prisons and that many prison officers are unhappy with their lot. They don’t feel they can carry out vital rehabilitation work with prisoners.

“But when I learn from this survey that fully half of our prison staff do not feel safe at work, that is still deeply concerning.

“This position is not acceptable. The government risks failing in its duty of care to prison staff and prisoners alike. We are sitting on a potential time bomb. It must be defused.”