Official Statistics

HM Prison and Probation Service annual staff equalities report: 2020 to 2021

Published 25 November 2021

Applies to England and Wales

Main Points

54,296 (headcount) staff in post as at 31 March 2021	This was an increase of 2.6% compared to the same point in 2020. Females represented 50.0% of staff, and 10.9% of staff who declared their ethnicity were Black, Asian and minority ethnic.
5,803 (headcount) new recruits to HMPPS in 2020/21	This was 597 (11.5%) more than in 2019/20. Females accounted for 55.6% of joiners and more than half of joiners (50.8%) were aged under 30 years old.
3,052 staff (6.3%) were receiving temporary cover allowances (TCA)	This was an increase of 0.8 percentage points compared to 31 March 2020. TCA rates were higher for females (6.4%) compared to males (6.2%).
3.8% of permanent staff were promoted, an equivalent of 2,004 promotions	A decrease from the rate of 4.6% (2,409 promotions) in 2019/20. The promotion rate for female staff was higher in 2020/21 at 4.4% (1,146) than for males at 3.2% (858). Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff had a higher promotion rate at 4.2% than White staff at 4.0%.
763 staff raised grievances, representing 1.4 per 100 staff	These resulted in 911 cases of which 380 (41.7%) were upheld/ partially upheld. The number of grievance cases raised during the year decreased compared to 2019/20 (from 1.7 per 100 staff), but the percentage of cases being upheld/partially upheld increased by 3.5 percentage points (from 38.2%).
Overall rate of conduct & discipline cases was 1.5 per 100 staff	An increase from 1.2 per 100 staff in for 2019/20. In 2020/21, the rate was higher for male staff (at 2.1 per 100 male staff) compared to female staff (at 0.9 per 100 female staff).
HMPPS staff lost an average of 11.4 working days due to sickness	An increase from 10.2 days for 2019/20. For 2020/21, the average was higher for male than female staff (11.8 and 10.7 days respectively) and was higher for Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff (12.9 days) compared to White staff (11.0 days).

This publication considers staffing profiles and processes of the directly employed HMPPS workforce from an equalities perspective. Technical details and explanatory notes can be found in the accompanying Guide and Glossary to the annual HMPPS Staff Equalities Report.

Please send any feedback you may have related to the content of this publication to: statistics.enquiries@justice.gov.uk

Statistician’s comment

The headcount of HMPPS as of 31 March 2021 was 54,296, this was an increase of 2.6% compared to the same point in 2020. Females represented 50.0% of staff, and 10.9% of staff who declared their ethnicity were Black, Asian and minority ethnic.

There were 5,803 (headcount) new recruits to HMPPS in 2020/21. This was 597 (11.5%) more than in 2019/20. Females accounted for 55.6% of joiners and more than half of joiners (50.8%) were aged under 30 years old.

The impact of COVID-19 throughout 2020/21 has meant that the staff appraisal assessment was suspended due to the challenges of managing the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, staff bonuses in 2020/21 included a range of COVID-19 special payment schemes which were set up for frontline prison and probation staff, this has resulted in bonuses increasing substantially compared to last year.

For this release the 2019/20 working days lost to sickness has been updated to include COVID-19 sickness. For 2020/21 HMPPS staff lost an average of 11.4 working days due to sickness, an increase from 10.2 days for 2019/20.

Points to note

Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service

On 1 April 2017, Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) replaced the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), an agency of the Ministry of Justice. HMPPS is focussed on supporting operational delivery and the effective running of prison and probation services across the public and private sectors. HMPPS works with several partners to carry out the sentences given by the courts, either in custody or the community. This report considers profiles and processes of the HMPPS workforce from an equalities perspective.

HMPPS delivers services directly through public sector prisons, the youth custody service and the National Probation Service. The statistics in this publication relate to staff working within HMPPS with a contract of employment with HMPPS, who are all civil servants. Staffing in private sector establishments, Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) and other contractors are excluded.

During June 2021 more 7,000 staff from private CRCs came together with 3,500 probation officers already in the public sector in the new Probation Service. Since the transfer of CRC staff occurred in June 2021, the CRC staff are out of scope for this report.

The equality objectives of HMPPS are stated, along with progress and achievements, in the HMPPS Annual Report and Accounts 2019/20. The 2020/21 report is due to be published shortly.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmpps-annual-report-and-accounts-2019-20

There are many interactions between characteristics of staff that influence outcomes on staff processes. These include interactions between protected characteristics, such as between age and race, as well as other factors such as grade level. It is not possible within a report of this size to explore these interactions. Important considerations, such as differences in grade levels and how they may affect different groups of staff are highlighted, but no detailed analysis is included that removes the interactions and allows the unique contribution of protected characteristics to be isolated.

Values of 2 or fewer or other values which would allow values of 2 or fewer to be derived by subtraction are suppressed. Please see our technical guide for further information on suppression.

Workforce statistics for HMPPS (and NOMS prior to 1 April 2017) are also published through the HMPPS Quarterly Workforce Bulletin:

www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-offender-management-service-workforce-statistics

This report covers staff processes with reference to protected characteristics as set out below.

Staff Process

• Total Staff in Post

• Joiners

• Temporary Cover

• Promotions

• Staff Appraisals

• Special bonuses

• Grievances

• Investigations

• Conduct and Discipline Cases

• Sickness Absence

• Leavers

Protected Characteristic

• Sex

• Age

• Race

• Disability

• Sexual Orientation

• Religion / Belief

An accompanying report relating to Offender Equalities statistics for 2020/21 will also be published on 25 November 2021 and available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/hm-prison-and-probation-service-offender-equalities-report-2020-to-2021

Protected characteristics information is recorded for HMPPS staff on gender, age, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion/belief, and work pattern. Caution should be exercised in attempting to make comparisons between the composition of the HMPPS workforce and the wider population of England and Wales based on protected characteristics. There is substantial regional variation of these distributions in the general population, and HMPPS staff are not distributed across England and Wales in the same proportions as the general population, this may render such comparisons invalid.

Data on the protected characteristics race, disability, sexual orientation and religion/belief were collected from self-declared, non-compulsory fields on the Human Resources Management System (HRMS) until December 2016 and from the Single Operating Platform (SOP) from January 2017 onwards. With lower declaration rates, the risk of bias increases greatly, and the accuracy of a representation rate based on known declarations falls rapidly. Consequently, when a declaration rate falls below 60%, no representation rate is provided.

Race, disability, religion and sexual orientation are all self-declared, optional fields. Since the introduction of SOP in January 2017, there was a large drop in the declaration rates of new joiners to HMPPS. It is likely that the very low declaration rates are due to issues with the user-friendliness of SOP when it was first introduced. Over the past couple of years there has been a large increase in declarations, meaning that some of these characteristics have reached the threshold to allow for meaningful analysis of new recruits by these protected characteristics. The Ministry of Justice is looking at ways to address these issues and improve these declaration rates further.

1. Total Staff in Post

There were 54,296 staff in post as at 31st March 2021, 2.6% more than at the same date in 2020. Females accounted for 50.0% of staff, the age band with the largest proportion of staff was 50-59 year olds (26.2%) and 10.9% of staff who declared their ethnicity were Black, Asian And Minority Ethnic.

As at 31 March 2021, there were 54,296 staff (headcount) in HMPPS, an increase of 1,368 (2.6%) on the previous year. This consisted of 29,255 staff in operational grades, 12,171 in the National Probation Service grades, and 12,869 in non-operational grades.

Figure 1 shows the make-up of the workforce across the available protected characteristics. Representation rates are only illustrated where information is recorded for over 60% of staff. Additional details on staff in post can also be found in tables 1a and 1b.

Figure 1: HMPPS staff by protected characteristic, as at 31 March 2021

Females accounted for 50.0% (27,144) of HMPPS staff as at 31 March 2021, an increase of 1.0 percentage point on their representation for the previous year when it was 49.0% (25,948 females).

Overall 41.1% (92) of senior leaders in public prisons and HMPPS HQ (Senior Civil Servants and operational managers including governors) were female. Furthermore, females accounted for 37.7% (326) of operational manager bands 7-9, 29.1% (6,659) of prison officer bands 3-5, and 47.9% (2,536) of Operational Support Grades (OSGs).

In contrast, there were more female than male staff in non-operational grades (in prisons, HMPPS HQ and Area Services); 56.6% in non-operational manager grades (up by 1.5 percentage points from 55.2% in March 2020), and 64.9% in non-operational grades below management level (down 0.2 percentage points from 65.1% since the previous year) were female.

The National Probation Service^{[footnote 1]} had higher female representation than the other parts of HMPPS. Females predominated in the National Probation Service at all levels, comprising of 67.5% (141) of staff in senior NPS roles (NPS bands A-D), 72.7% (958) in NPS bands 5-6, and 78.0% (8,304) in NPS grades below management level (which includes probation officers at band 4).

As at 31 March 2021, the age band with the largest proportion of staff was those aged 50-59, comprising of 26.2% (14,206) of all staff. The proportion of those aged 40 or over as at 31 March 2020 stood at 56.4% (30,623), a decrease of 0.6 percentage points since the previous year whilst those aged under 30 represented 19.6% (10,638) of the HMPPS workforce, compared to 19.5% last year.

By grade, the 50-59 age band had the highest proportion of staff across all the grades, except for band 3-5 officers (23.4% (5,352) compared to 27.0% (6,166) aged 30-39), those at NPS management grade band 5-6 (25.9% (341) compared to 38.4% (506) aged 40-49), and those at NPS grades below management level (22.6% (2,405) compared to 24.0% (2,554) aged 30-39).

As at 31 March 2021, 85.8% of staff had declared their ethnicity. Of these, 10.9% (5,075) were in a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic group. There were some differences between the groups within the Black, Asian and minority ethnic category, with 4.7% of staff being from a Black background compared to 0.5% of staff who declared as Other Ethnic. By grade, the lowest Black, Asian and minority ethnic representation was for operational managers bands 7-9 at 5.5% (46), an increase of 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous year (5.3%).

Overall 77.3% of staff had declared their disability, which was above the 60% threshold at which meaningful representation rates can be considered. Similarly, 73.2% of staff had declared their religion, and 74.1% their sexual orientation. As of 31 March 2021, there were 14.2% of staff who declared themselves as disabled compared to 85.8% who declared themselves as non-disabled. The lowest disability representation rate was for band 3-5 officers at 9.5% (1,565), and the highest representation rate was for NPS below management grade at 20.9% (1,969).

Of the 73.2% of staff who had declared their religion, 47.0% were Christian, 44.9% had no religion and 8.1% were non-Christian. There were some differences between the groups within the non-Christian Religion category, with most non-Christian staff being Muslim or Other at 2.3% and 3.7% respectively, compared to 0.2% of staff who declared as Jewish.

Of those who had declared their sexual orientation as at 31 March 2021, 93.5% were heterosexual/straight compared to 6.5% of staff declaring themselves as LGB (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Other).

2. Joiners

There were 5,803 (headcount) new recruits to HMPPS in 2020/21; 597 more than in 2019/20 and a 11.5% increase. Females accounted for 55.6% of joiners and more than half of joiners (50.8%) were aged under 30 years old.

The number of staff appointed to HMPPS increased from 5,206 in 2019/20 to 5,803 in 2020/21, a 11.5% increase. The largest group of recruits were band 3 to 5 officers, with 2,410 appointed in the 12 months to 31 March 2021. Figure 2 shows a breakdown of joiners across the available protected characteristics; additional details can also be found in the tables 2a and 2b.

Figure 2: HMPPS new joiners by protected characteristic, 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021

Note: Black, Asian and minority ethnic breakdowns are not shown due to low declaration rates.

Overall, 44.4% of those who joined HMPPS were male and 55.6% were female. This varied by grade with band 3-5 officer joiners being the only grade where staff were largely male (62.0%) compared to other grades such as National Probation Service below management level where the majority of joiners were female (78.3%).

More than half of new joiners (50.8%, equivalent to 2,950 individuals) in 2020/21 were aged under 30 whilst 25.2% (1,461) were aged 40 or older. Specifically, 56.3% (1,358) of staff who joined as band 3-5 officers were aged under 30.

Declaration rates are high enough for disability, religion and sexual orientation to allow meaningful analysis by these protected characteristics, the declaration rate for race is still too low.

Of the 61.2% of joiners that declared their disability status in 2020/21, 9.1% were self-declared as being disabled compared to 90.9% of non-disabled staff.

There was a higher proportion of joiners who declared themselves as having no religion (60.1%) compared to those belonging to a religious group (39.9%, of which 31.7% were Christian and 8.1% were non-Christian).

Of those who had declared their sexual orientation, a higher proportion of recruits were heterosexual/straight at 91.2% compared to 8.8% who were Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Other (LGB). Of the LGB categories, Gay/Lesbian staff made up the largest proportions of joiners at 4.7 compared to bisexual and ‘other’ (3.5% and 0.6% respectively).

3. Temporary Cover

As at 31 March 2021, 3,052 staff (6.3%) were receiving temporary cover allowances (TCA). TCA rates were higher for females, those aged 30-39 years old, mixed ethnicity staff, non-disabled staff, and non-religious staff.

Temporary cover payments are a system that enables staff to work temporarily in a more senior role and receive an additional payment while this work is undertaken. Although temporary cover payments tend to be received for a considerable duration while an individual covers a role at a higher grade on a temporary basis, these figures are based on snapshots at a moment of time at the end of a financial year. As such, they may not accurately represent the rates of those receiving cover payments during the financial year.

As at 31 March 2021, 3,052 staff were receiving Temporary Cover Allowances for filling posts of a higher grade on a temporary basis. This represents 6.3% of staff, an increase from 5.5% of staff as at 31 March 2020. The rate of temporary cover allowances is illustrated in figure 3, with additional details in tables 3a and 3b.

Figure 3: Temporary cover allowances (TCA) per 100 staff, as at 31 March 2021

Note: Sexual orientation breakdowns are not shown due to low declaration rates.

As at 31 March 2021, 6.4% of females were on temporary cover compared to 6.2% of males. For operational and non-operational staff, rates for TCA were higher for female staff. The TCA rates among female and male staff in probation service grades were very similar.

Temporary cover payments were most prevalent amongst those aged 30 to 39 and 40 to 49 (8.4% and 7.8% respectively), compared to 5.3% of under 30s, 5.1% of 50 to 59 year olds, and 1.7% of staff aged 60 or over.

As at 31 March 2021, 6.3% of Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff were receiving temporary cover payments compared to 6.7% of White staff. Last year, 5.3% of Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff and 5.9% of White staff were on temporary cover. Numbers within the Black, Asian and minority ethnic subset groups were low, so some caution is advised when viewing rates. However, within the Black, Asian and minority ethnic category, staff who declared as Mixed Ethnic groups had the highest rate of receiving TCAs at 7.1%.

The proportion of staff receiving temporary cover allowances was lower amongst disabled staff compared to non-disabled (5.9% and 6.8% respectively as at 31 March 2021).

As at 31 March 2021, 6.2% of non-Christian staff were receiving temporary cover payments, compared to 6.5% of Christian staff and 7.1% of staff with no religion. Within the non-Christian religion subset groups, 9.6% of those who self-declared as being Sikh were receiving TCA.

Declaration rates for sexual orientation were too low for any meaningful analysis to be carried out.

4. Promotions

In 2020/21, 3.8% of permanent staff were promoted, an equivalent of 2,004 promotions. The rate of promotions was higher for: females, those aged 30-39 years old, mixed ethnic groups, non-disabled, non-religious staff and staff who identified as gay or lesbian.

Promotions relate to staff moving to a more senior grade through an internal process. Operational Support Grade staff who convert to become prison officers are known as ‘conversions’ and not defined as promotions and so this specific grade change does not appear in this report. Promotions are reported in terms of the grade of the staff prior to promotion rather than the grade they were promoted into. Similarly, rates are calculated in relation to the number of staff in the lower grade.

In 2020/21, 3.8% of staff were promoted (the equivalent of 2,004 promotions within the year), a decrease from the rate of 4.6% (2,409 promotions) in 2019/20.

The rate of promotions, which represents the number of individuals promoted per 100 staff, in 2020/21 across all protected characteristics is illustrated in figure 4. Additional details on promotions can also be found in tables 4a and 4b.

Figure 4: Promotions per 100 staff, 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021

The promotion rate for female staff was higher in 2020/21 at 4.4% (1,146) than for males at 3.2% (858). Over the past 4 years, promotion rates have been consistently higher among female staff compared to male staff.

The rate of promotions generally declines as the age of staff increases. In 2020/21, staff aged under 30 had a promotion rate of 5.2% while staff aged 30 to 39 had the highest rate of promotion at 5.7% of staff in post, compared to 3.8% for staff aged 40 to 49, 2.1% for the 50-59 age group and 0.6% for staff aged 60 and over.

In the 12 months ending 31 March 2021, Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff had a slightly higher promotion rate at 4.2% than White staff at 4.0%. Within the Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups, those identifying as mixed ethnicity had the highest rate at 5.7%.

In 2020/21, the rate of promotion between staff who declared themselves disabled was lower than that of non-disabled staff, at 3.2% and 4.2% respectively. This pattern was seen across all grades apart from OSG staff but this is based on a small number of promotions as the most common upward move for OSG staff is to Band 3-5 prison officers which is not recorded in these statistics.

In 2020/21, the promotion rate was lower in non-Christian staff (3.2%) compared to Christian staff (4.0%) or those with no religion (4.8%). Staff who identified themselves as LGB (lesbian, gay, bisexual or other) had a higher rate of promotion compared to heterosexual staff (5.0% and 4.3% respectively).

5. Staff Appraisals

For the year 2020/21 the normal appraisal reporting was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In HMPPS, the system of staff appraisals is called the ‘Staff Performance and Development Record’ (SPDR). There is an annual cycle or appraisals and marks are awarded at the mid-year and then the end-year. It is the end-year markings that are shown within the data tables.

For the financial year 2019/20, the usual process for SPDR assessment at year end in HMPPS was suspended due to COVID-19, with the aim of relieving staff of some of the administrative burden around the end of year performance management process at a difficult time. Given the exceptional circumstances, managers were only required to record a rating for those staff assessed as ‘outstanding’. This means that the majority of staff would have been awarded with a ‘good’ marking, including those whose performance may have dipped to ‘improvement required’. Therefore, for those two markings analysis and comparison with previous years are not possible. Staff on formal Managing Poor Performance measures were recorded separately and this process continued as usual.

For the financial year 2020/21 the normal reporting process was suspended due to the challenges of managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Managers were not required to complete appraisal reports or input performance markings. As in 2019/20, staff on formal Managing Poor Performance measures were recorded separately and this process continued as usual.

Further detail on appraisal ratings in previous years can be found in tables 5a and 5b.

6. Special Bonuses

In 2020/21, a range of COVID-19 special payment schemes were set up for frontline prison and probation staff. These special payment schemes were processed as special bonuses which resulted in the 2020/21 bonus figures being much higher than those for previous years. The figures show total bonus value awarded to staff in 2020/21 was £47.5m compared to £1.3m in 2019/20. The rate of special bonuses awarded to staff, including COVID 19 special payment schemes, in 2020/21 was 64.3 per 100 staff.

The rate of bonuses awarded was higher for White staff (at 67.2 per 100 staff) compared to Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff (at 52.6 per 100 staff), and non-disabled staff (at 65.4 per 100 people) compared to disabled staff (at 50.7 per 100 people).

During 2020/21, special payments were paid to frontline prison and probation staff, with band 3-5 prison staff receiving higher rates of bonuses than probation staff. Band 3-5 prison staff are more likely to be male (71% male) whereas probation staff were more likely to be female (77% female). In addition, probation staff had a higher rate of disability (18%) compared to band 3-5 prison officers (10%). Therefore, when reviewing special bonuses by protected characteristics, please take into consideration the grade of those who were awarded special bonuses, which is available in table 6b(ii).

Special bonuses allow local management the opportunity to recognise and reward any member of staff for exceptional performance in a particularly demanding task or situation through a one-off non-consolidated lump sum payment of up to £2,000 (or up to £20,000 with CEO approval).

In 2020/21 a range of COVID-19 special payment schemes were set up for frontline prison and probation staff. The special payment schemes were developed to support the staffing for prisons and probation through the COVID-19 pandemic in recognition of the exceptional circumstances in which they were working. The special payments schemes were processed in the same way as special bonuses and cannot be separated from special bonuses. This has resulted in the 2020/21 figures showing a significant increase compared to previous years. During 2020/21 the total bonus value awarded to staff was £47.5m compared to £1.3m in 2019/20. As the 2020/21 data contains these extra COVID-19 special payments, please treat any comparisons to previous years with caution.

The rate of special bonuses awarded to staff, including the special payment schemes, in 2020/21 was 64.3 per 100 staff, compared to 3.6 in 2019/20. The average value of the awards per staff member increased from £661 in 2019/20 to £1,384 in 2020/21.

Across the grades, the rate of bonuses awarded was higher for managerial positions than for junior positions. In operational grades, operational managers were awarded bonuses at a rate of 96.9 per 100 staff compared to the more junior operational positions of band 3-5 officers at 93.9 per 100 staff, and OSGs at 86.2 per 100 staff. A similar pattern was seen for non-operational and NPS grades too; non-operational managers were awarded bonuses at 57.3 per 100 staff compared to more junior non-operational positions at 55.2 per 100 staff, and NPS management grades were awarded bonuses at 8.0 per 100 staff compared to NPS below management grades at 2.9 per 100 staff.

The average value per award across protected characteristics are illustrated in figures 5 below, and bonus statistics can be viewed in tables 6a, 6b(i) and 6b(ii).

Figure 5: Average value of special bonuses awarded, 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021

The rate of special bonuses awarded in 2020/21 was higher for males at 80.7 per 100 staff than for females at 47.6 per 100 staff. The average value of the bonuses was also higher for males who received an average of £1,437 compared to females who received an average of £1,292. The rate of special bonuses awarded was higher for males than females across all grades except non-operational manager and NPS roles (both managers and junior positions).

In 2020/21, staff in the 50-59 age group had the highest rate of bonuses awarded at 66.6 per 100 staff, and the average value of bonuses for this age group was the second highest compared to the other age groups at £1,426. Staff aged 40-49 had the lowest rates of bonuses at 60.3 per 100 staff but it was also the age group with the highest average value of awards at £1,487.

In 2020/21, the rate of bonuses awarded to Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff was lower compared to White staff (52.6 compared to 67.2 per 100 staff respectively), but the average value of bonuses awarded was similar with an average of £1,425 for Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff and £1,403 for White staff. There were differences between the rates and average value of bonuses awarded to different groups of Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff. Staff who declared themselves as ‘other ethnic groups’ were awarded the highest bonuses at a rate of 68.1 per 100 staff, with an average value of £1,491. In contrast, staff who declared themselves as ‘Asian or Asian British’ were awarded the lowest bonuses at a rate of 48.4 per 100 staff and had a lower average value of £1,322.

The rate of bonuses awarded in 2020/21 to those who declared as disabled was 50.7 per 100 staff, compared to 65.4 per 100 staff for non-disabled staff. Moreover, the average value of these awards was slightly lower for those declared disabled at £1,323, compared to non-disabled at £1,423.

In 2020/21, the rate of bonuses awarded to those who declared as Christian (64.2 per 100 staff) was lower compared to those with no religion (67.7 per 100 staff) but higher than those affiliated with non-Christian religions (57.5 per 100 staff). Staff who declared themselves as LGB (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Other) were awarded bonuses at a higher than heterosexual staff (73.2 per 100 staff compared to 64.6 per 100 staff), as well as having a higher average value of the awards (£1,503 for LGB staff compared to £1,429 for heterosexual/straight staff).

7. Grievances

In 2020-21, 763 staff raised grievances resulting in 911 cases. Of these cases, 41.7% were upheld/partially upheld. The raising of grievances was higher for: Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff (at 2.4 per 100 staff) compared to White staff (at 1.3 per 100 staff) and disabled staff (at 2.9 per 100 staff) compared to non-disabled staff (at 1.2 per 100 staff)

A grievance is defined as any concern, problem or complaint raised by an individual member of staff relating to his or her employment. Only grievances that have gone through the formal procedure are analysed here. Grievances resolved locally or through mediation are not recorded centrally. Further details on grievances can be found in tables 7a, 7b(i) and 7b(ii).

In 2020/21, there were 763 staff who raised grievances, resulting in 911 cases. Of these cases, 41.7% (380 cases) were upheld or partially upheld, an increase of 3.5 percentage points compared to the previous year. The overall figure for the number of grievances raised in 2020/21 represented 1.4 per 100 staff, a decrease from 2019/20 (1.7 per 100 staff). Across grade breakdowns, operational managers had the highest rate in terms of raising a grievance at 2.4 per 100 staff.

Figures 6 and 7 show the rate per 100 staff raising grievances and the percent of cases upheld or partially upheld, split by protected characteristic.

Figure 6: Number of staff per 100 staff raising grievances, 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021

Figure 7: Percent of cases upheld or partially upheld, 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021

Overall, female staff raised grievances in 2020/21 at the same rate as males at 1.4 per 100 staff. Across grades, females raised fewer grievances per 100 staff compared to males in National Probation Service grades (both manager and junior grades), but not in operational grades (operational managers, band 3-5 officers,OSGs and for both non-operational manager and non-operational below management grades) where female staff raised a higher rate of grievances than male staff. The largest difference between rates of female and male staff who a raised grievance was for the operational manger grade group (at 3.0 and 2.1 per 100 staff respectively). The percentage of cases upheld or partially upheld in 2020/21 was higher for females (44.4%) than for males (39.3%).

In 2020/21, there was a tendency for the rate of grievances to increase with age, except for those aged 60 or over. Staff under 30 had a grievance rate of 1.1 per 100 staff compared to 1.6 per 100 staff aged between 50-59, with those aged 60 and over having a grievance rate of 1.3 per 100 staff.

The overall rate of grievances raised per 100 staff was higher amongst Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff compared to White staff, at 2.4 per 100 and 1.3 per 100 staff respectively. The percentage of cases upheld or partially upheld was higher for White staff at 42.5% compared to Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff at 42.1%.

Overall, self-declared disabled staff raised more grievances, at a rate of 2.9 per 100 staff, than non-disabled staff, at 1.2 per 100 staff. This pattern was seen across all grades.

Non-Christian staff raised more grievances than Christian staff, at 2.3 and 1.5 per 100 staff respectively. Considering grades where numbers are large enough to disclose, this pattern was seen across all grades except for non-operational grades below management level. Christian staff had a higher proportion of cases being upheld or partially upheld at 42.5% compared to non-Christian staff at 40.2%.

Staff who identified themselves as LGB raised more grievances, at a rate of 2.6 per 100 staff, compared to heterosexual staff, as at a rate of 1.3 per 100 staff. The percentage of cases upheld or partially upheld was higher for heterosexual staff at 43.4% compared to LGB staff at 34.2%.  

8. Investigations and Conduct & Discipline cases

In 2020/21, the overall rate of investigated staff was 3.4 per 100 staff. The rate was higher amongst male staff (4.7 per 100 males) compared to female staff (2.1 per 100 females), Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff (3.8 per 100 staff) compared to White staff (3.1 per 100 staff), and those under 30 (5.1 per 100 staff) compared to staff in other age bands.

In 2020/21, the overall rate of conduct and discipline cases was 1.5 per 100 staff. The rate was higher for; male staff (2.1 per 100 male staff) compared to female staff (0.9 per 100 female staff). Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff (1.4 per 100 staff) and White staff (1.4 per 100 staff) had the same rate of conduct & discipline cases.

Investigations into staff conduct are designed to establish the truth of the case and to determine whether conduct and discipline action is recommended. A conduct and discipline case imposes a penalty on a member of staff for wrong-doing. In cases of summary dismissal, it is not always possible to have had a full internal investigation.

Both investigations and conduct and discipline cases may involve multiple charges and may have multiple outcomes for the different parts of the case. More than one member of staff can also be charged and penalised in a single case. For the purpose of this report, a case is defined as a charge or set of charges being brought against an individual. Where more than one individual is charged together, they are counted as multiple cases in this report.

Further details on investigations and conduct and discipline cases can be found in tables 8a, 8b(i) and 8b(ii), and 9a, 9b(i) and 9b(ii).

In 2020/01, 1,806 staff faced at least one investigation, representing a rate of 3.4 investigated staff per 100 staff, an increase from 2.9 investigated staff per 100 for 2019/20. Of the 1,937 cases, 1,223 (63.1%) had further action recommended. In 2020/21, band 3-5 officers had a higher rate of investigations than staff in other grades (5.9 investigated staff per 100 staff, with all other grades with a rate of 2.8 or below).

Overall, male staff were investigated at more than double the rate of female staff in 2020/21, at 4.7 investigated staff per 100 males compared to 2.1 investigated staff per 100 females. The rate of investigations for male staff was higher across all grades except for non-operational managers . The percentage of cases with further action recommended was slightly higher for females at 64.0% compared to 62.8% for males.

Figures 8 and 9 show the rates per 100 staff who were investigated in 2020/21 and the proportion of cases where further action was recommended, split by protected characteristic.

Figure 8: Staff subject to at least one investigation per 100 staff in post, 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021

Note: Sexual orientation breakdowns are not shown due to low declaration rates.

Figure 9: Proportion of Investigations where further action was recommended, 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021

In 2020/21, there was a tendency for the rate of investigations to decrease with age from 5.1 investigated staff per 100 staff for those aged under 30, to 1.8 investigated staff per 100 staff aged 60 and over.

The proportion of Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff investigated in 2020/21 was higher than the proportion of White staff investigated, 3.8 investigated staff per 100 staff compared to 3.1 investigated staff per 100 staff. The percentage of cases with further action recommended was lower for Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff (61.4%) than for White staff (63.2%).

In 2020/21, the proportion of staff with non-Christian religious beliefs investigated was higher than for Christian staff, at , 3.7 investigated staff per 100 staff, compared to 2.8 investigated staff per 100 staff for Christian staff. Non-Christian staff had a lower proportion of cases with further action recommended (60.3%) compared to Christian staff or those with no religion (62.4% and 65.1% respectively).

There were 810 staff subject to conduct and discipline action in 2020/21, a rate of 1.5 per 100 staff. There was a total of 835 conduct cases and of these 20.1% resulted in the penalty of dismissal^{[footnote 2]}. The rate of conduct cases was highest amongst band 3-5 prison officers at 2.5 per 100 staff.

Figures 10 and 11 show the rates per 100 staff who were subject to conduct and discipline action and the proportions of conduct cases leading to dismissal in 2020/21, split by protected characteristics.

Figure 10: Staff per 100 staff subject to conduct and discipline action, 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021

Figure 11: Percentage of conduct cases leading to dismissal, 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021

The rate of conduct cases involving male staff was more than double the rate for female staff, 2.1 per 100 male staff compared to 0.9 per 100 female staff. The proportions of cases resulting in dismissal were higher for female staff compared to male staff (20.4% and 20.0% respectively).

In 2020/01, the rate of conduct and discipline cases was highest among staff aged under 30 at 2.2 per 100 staff and decreased with age where those aged 60 plus had a rate of 1.0 per 100 staff.

In 2020/21 Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff and White staff had the same rate of staff subject to conduct and discipline action per 100 staff with 1.4 per 100 staff respectively. The percentage of dismissals resulting from conduct cases was higher for Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff at 31.5% compared to White staff at 18.5%.

There was a slightly higher proportion of staff subject to conduct and discipline among those who declared themselves as disabled, 1.6 per 100 staff, compared to non-disabled staff, 1.4 per 100 staff. The percentage of cases resulting in dismissals was higher for disabled staff compared to non-disabled staff (28.1% and 19.3% respectively).

In 2020/21, staff with non-Christian religious beliefs, 1.4 per 100 staff, were subject to conduct and discipline action at a higher rate than Christian staff, 1.2 per 100 staff. Non-Christian staff had a higher proportion of cases which resulted in dismissals (34.0%) compared to Christian staff (19.4%) or those with no religion (21.4%).

The rate of conduct and discipline cases was higher for staff who identified as LGB compared to Heterosexual staff (1.9 per 100 staff and 1.5 per 100 staff respectively).

9. Sickness Absence

In 2020/21, HMPPS staff lost an average of 11.4 working days due to sickness, a 1.1 average working day increase compared to 2019/20. The average working days lost due to sickness increased with age and was higher for males, Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff, and those that declared themselves as disabled, non-Christian, or LGBT.

Sickness absence is represented in this section by the average working days lost (AWDL) due to sickness per employee per year. Comparisons to the figures for the period 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018 should be interpreted with caution due to an under-recording of sickness absence records during migration of data to the Single Operating Platform. To note, 2019/20 and 2020/21 financial year sickness absence data both include figures relating to the effect of COVID-19 on HMPPS staff in the publication. In the previous year’s publication, COVID-19 figures are not included, hence why the 2019/20 figures differ from this year’s. For further information on sickness reason, please see our HMPPS workforce release.

In 2020/21, the AWDL due to sickness absence was 11.4, a 1.1 percentage point increase from 10.2 in 2019/20. The average working days lost to sickness absence was higher for male staff at 11.8 days, than for female staff at 10.7 days. This was seen across all NPS below management grades but not in operational grades, non-operational grades, NPS below management grades and NPS management grades.

Figure 12 illustrates the AWDL in 2020/21 across all protected characteristics. Further details on sickness absence can be found in tables 10a and 10b.

Figure 12: Average working days lost due to sickness absence, 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021

In 2020/21, the average working days lost to sickness absence increased with age from 10.3 days for those aged 30-39, increasing through each age group to the over 60s who had the highest AWDL at 13.9 days. This pattern was seen across many of the grades, except for band 3-5 officers (where those aged 50-59 had the highest AWDL at 15.0).

In 2020/21, across operational, non-operational and NPS roles the AWDL was lower for senior staff compared to grades below management level. Operational, Non-Operational and NPS grades below management level had the highest levels of AWDL; 13.8 days for officers, 12.9 days for OSGs, 9.8 days for non –operational below manager and 9.3 days for NPS staff below management grade.

In 2020/21, the AWDL was 12.9 days for Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff and 11.0 days for White staff. There were some differences in the AWDL between the groups within the Black, Asian and minority ethnic category, with Black or Black British staff having the highest rate of 13.5, followed by Mixed Ethnic Groups staff at 12.8, Asian or Asian British staff at 12.3 and Other ethnic group staff at 11.7. Compared to 2019/20, there was an increase in the AWDL among White staff at 1.1 percentage points and an increase for Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff of 0.8 percentage points. By grade, in the 12 months ending 31 March 2021, the AWDL rate was higher for Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff in all staff positions, apart from Operational Managers (7.5 AWDL for White staff compared to 3.8 for Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff).

For 2020/21, those who declared themselves as being disabled had more working days lost, on average, than that of non-disabled staff, at 17.1 days compared to 10.0 days respectively. Disabled staff had a higher AWDL compared to non-disabled staff across all grade groups where the declaration rates were above the 60% threshold.

In 2020/21, staff who declared themselves as being a non-Christian had a higher rate of AWDL of 13.4 days compared to Christian staff (11.3 days) and staff with no religion (10.1 days). Of the non-Christian religions, Sikh staff had the highest AWDL of 14.4 days. Staff who declared themselves as LGB had the highest rate of AWDL of 13.2 days compared to an AWDL of 10.7 days in heterosexual/straight staff.

10. Leavers

In 2020/21, the leaving rate of HMPPS staff was 8.3%, a decrease of 2.2 percentage point since 2019/20. Leaving rates were higher amongst male staff (8.8%) compared female staff (7.9%). By age, the highest leaving rate was for those aged 60 and over (16.5%), followed by those aged under 30 (12.7%).

In the 12 months ending 31 March 2021, 4,428 permanent staff (headcount) left HMPPS. The leaving rate stood at 8.3%, representing a decrease of 2.2 percentage point from the previous year’s rate of 10.5%. The rates presented include retirement but exclude voluntary exits under the Voluntary Early Departure Scheme and redundancies (VEDSR).

Leaving rates for each protected characteristic are shown in figure 13. Further details on leavers can be found in tables 11a to 11c.

Figure 13: Permanent staff leaving rates (excluding VEDSR), 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021

The leaving rate for female staff was lower in the 12 months ending 31 March 2021 at 7.9% than the rate for male staff at 8.8%, a decrease of 1.8 and 2.5 percentage points respectively compared to the previous year.

Considering gender splits of leaving rates by grade group, in 2020/21, operational below management grades had the largest leaving rates; OSGs had a leaving rate of 11.9%, a decrease from 12.5% in 2019/20, and band 3-5 officers had a leaving rate of 9.1%, a decrease from 12.2% in 2019/20. Band 3-5 prison officers and non operational managers were the only grades where females had a higher leaving rate than males; a rate of 9.6% compared to 9.0%, respectively for band 3-5 officers, and a rate of 5.8% compared to 5.5%, respectively for non operational managers. NPS management grades had the largest gender difference with the rate for male leavers at 5.1% compared to 2.9% for females.

As leaving rates include retirement it would be expected that those aged 60 and over would have the highest leaving rates. Accordingly the leaving rate for those aged 60 and over was the highest at 16.5% in the 12 months to 31 March 2021, a decrease of 1.4 percentage points compared to the previous 12 months. Those aged under 30 had leaving rates of 12.7%, which was a decrease of 4.2 percentage points compared to the 12 months to 31 March 2020.

In 2020/21, the leaving rate was lower for Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff at 6.6%, compared to White staff at 7.3%. Within the Black, Asian and minority ethnic subgroups, those who declared themselves as other ethnic group or mixed ethnic groups had the highest leaving rates at 8.2% and 7.5%, respectively. Staff who had declared themselves as disabled had a leaving rate of 8.2% which was higher than the leaving rate of non-disabled staff at 7.1%.

Declaration rates for religion and sexual orientation are above the level at which meaningful consideration can be made. In 2020/21, staff who declared themselves as having no religion had a higher leaving rate of 7.7% compared to non-Christian staff (7.3%) and Christian staff (6.7%). Staff who declared themselves as LGB had a higher leaving rate of 7.6% than heterosexual/straight staff leaving rate of 7.1%. 

Further Information

Accompanying files

As well as this report, the following products are published as part of this release:

• A technical guide and glossary providing details of the data sources and quality. Information on the revisions policy and disclosure relevant to HMPPS staffing data as well as a definition of terms used is also included.

• A set of tables for the year as well as over time.

Official Statistics

The statistics in this bulletin are classified as official statistics. The Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 defines ‘official statistics’ as all those statistical outputs produced by the UK Statistics Authority’s executive office (the Office for National Statistics), by central Government departments and agencies, by the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and by other Crown bodies (over 200 bodies in total). The statistics in this bulletin comply with all aspects of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. The Code encourages and supports producers of statistics to maintain their independence and to ensure adequate resourcing for statistical production. It helps producers and users of statistics by setting out the necessary principles and practices to produce statistics that are trustworthy, high quality and of public value.

Contact

Press enquiries should be directed to the Ministry of Justice press office:

Tel: 020 3334 3536

Email: newsdesk@justice.gov.uk

Other enquiries about these statistics should be directed to:

Chris Casanovas
Corporate Data Sharing Lead
Data and Evidence as a Service
Ministry of Justice
10 South Colonnade
London
E14 4PH

Email: statistics.enquiries@justice.gov.uk

Next update: 24 November 2022

URL: www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-offender-management-service-workforce-statistics

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Alternative formats are available on request from statistics.enquiries@justice.gov.uk

1. In this report National Probation Service staff are reported according to grade and therefore vary slightly from the total number of staff in the National Probation Service. This is due to the small number of National Probation Service staff in non-Probation Service grades. ↩

2. Details of appeals are not included in the analysis so a number of the penalties may have been overturned on appeal. ↩