Half of operational prison staff do not feel safe at work

The House of Commons Justice Committee has carried out a survey of Band 2 and Band 3-5 prison staff.

50% of operational prison staff do not feel safe at work and less than one quarter of Band 2-5 staff agree that the physical working conditions at their prison are adequate, the House of Commons Justice Committee has found.

 The chairman of the committee, Sir Bob Neill, has called the situation a “potential time bomb”.

The figures have come to light via a survey conducted by the Committee between February 10 and March 6 this year.

It forms part of a wider inquiry into the staffing of prisons by the Justice Committee, with a full report due later this year.

6,582 prison workforce staff completed the survey, including 1,298 working at Band 2 and 5,113 working at Bands 3-5 (a response rate of 25% and 24% respectively).

Almost three quarters of Band 3-5 staff and 40% of Band 2 staff reported experiencing verbal abuse from prisoners in the last three months, while around one in five Band 2-5 staff also experienced bullying and/or verbal abuse from a colleague across the same time period. 

Other themes highlighted in the survey included a lack of feeling valued as well as discontentement with pay, working conditions and senior management.

Sir Bob Neill has called the survey “shocking”.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

One in three Band 2 staff and one in five Band 3-5 staff have said they intend to quit in the next five years.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “Our hardworking frontline staff work day-in, day-out, to rehabilitate offenders and protect the public – and it is vital they have the right tools and equipment to keep them safe.

“That’s why we’re further improving safety in our jails by investing in PAVA spray and body worn cameras, as well as x-ray body scanners to keep out the dangerous contraband that fuels violence behind bars. We’re also boosting training on the job and prison officer pay to help us hire and retain the best people.”

An oral evidence session with the Justice Select Committee in April outlined that 82 prisons had gone live with PAVA across the men’s estate, and a further 14 were working towards it. The roll-out has been coupled with SPEAR training [spontaneous protection enabling accelerated response training]. There are no plans for the roll-out of PAVA across the women’s estate or the youth estate.