According to a survey commissioned by MPs, half of all prison officers in England and Wales do not feel safe at work, and nearly half intend to resign.
The all-party Justice Select Committee took the extraordinary step of commissioning the survey as part of its investigation into the prison workforce. The Prison Service and the Prison Officers’ Association supported the exercise, which involved almost 6,000 prison workers.
Sir Bob Neill, the Conservative MP who chairs the committee, called the survey findings “shocking”, saying: “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.”
Those interviewed included uniformed prison officials in pay bands three to five, as well as operational support grades (OSGs) in pay band two – uniformed employees who do not generally engage directly with prisoners.
Among the findings in the survey:
- Over 80 per cent of officers said that staff moral was not good, while a large majority did not feel that their salaries accurately reflected the responsibilities of their job.
- 73 per cent of officers and 65 per cent of OSGs said they did not feel valued for the work they do.
- 70 per cent of officers said they feel stressed at work a few times a week, or more.
- Only a quarter of officers said they receive regular training relevant to their role.
- Only 8% of staff surveyed agreed with the statement that “there are enough staff to ensure prisoners can engage in purposeful activity”.
- Around one in five staff said they had experienced bullying from a colleague in the past three months
- 43 per cent of officers said they planned to leave the Prison Service in the next five years.
Concerns about low staffing in many English prisons, high rates of staff turnover, and difficulty in hiring replacements prompted the committee to initiate its investigation. Inspectors have stated that in many prisons, convicts spend the most of their day locked up rather than working or attending school, due to a lack of staff to conduct the expected daily regime.
Launching the inquiry last November, Sir Bob Neill, the Conservative MP who chairs the committee, said: “We have launched this inquiry to understand what can be done to reverse the exodus of staff from the prison service. It will look at why so many are seeking employment opportunities elsewhere and what measures can be put in place to encourage them to stay.”