Official Statistics

Workforce Statistics Guide

Published 17 August 2023

Applies to England and Wales

1. Introduction

On 1 April 2017, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) replaced the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), an agency of the Ministry of Justice. The latest HMPPS workforce publication covers the reporting period up to 30 June 2023 and considers, in detail, staffing levels and staff inflows and outflows for both NOMS and HMPPS since 1st April 2017 (2017/18). For ease, the statistics in this publication will be referred to as those of the HMPPS workforce. The main areas covered in this publication are:

• Staff in post full-time equivalent (FTE) by Public Sector Prison (PSP) region, Youth Custody Service (YCS) and Probation Service region of England and Wales; by function (category of prison for the Prison Service); by grade; by length of service; and by establishment or Probation Delivery Unit (PDU).

• Staff in post headcount and leavers by protected characteristic as specified under the Equality Act 2010, where the declaration rate is above 60 per cent.

• Joiners and leavers headcount by PSP region and Probation Service division of England and Wales; by function (category of prison); by grade; and by length of service for leavers.

• Underlying leaving rates of staff on permanent contracts, by grade and structure, and underlying resignation rate of staff on permanent contracts by grade.

• Headcount of existing HMPPS staff who have been re-graded to prison officer.

• Headcount of leavers by reason for leaving.

• Average working days lost to sickness absence; by grade; by sickness reason; by region & division

2. Related publications

The Workforce Statistics bulletin is published alongside two inter-related annual reports:

HMPPS annual staff equalities report 2021 to 2022:

This provides key statistics on HMPPS staffing numbers and processes, with reference to protected characteristics. The next edition of this, HMPPS Annual Staff Equalities report, 2022 to 2023, will be published on 23 November 2023.

Ministry of Justice workforce monitoring report 2019 to 2020:

Annual publication providing information on MOJ staffing numbers and processes, with reference to protected characteristics.

HMPPS Annual Digest 2022 to 2023

This report looks at staffing (including ethnicity) figures in HMPPS HQ and Area Services, PSPs, YCS and Probation Service. Information is presented by establishment and region.

3. Overview of HMPPS Workforce Statistics

This section describes the timing and frequency of the publication and the revisions policy relating to the statistics published.

Timeframe and publishing frequency of data

This publication is produced on a quarterly basis so as to reflect the dynamic nature of the data included within many of the tables. The next edition of this quarterly bulletin, scheduled for release on 17 August 2023, will provide statistics on the HMPPS workforce as at 30 June 2023.

Revisions

In accordance with Principle 2 of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, the Ministry of Justice is required to publish transparent guidance on its policy for revisions. A copy of this statement can be found at:

Ministry of Justice policy statement on revisions

The reasons for statistics needing to be revised fall into three main categories. Each of these and their specific relevance to the HMPPS Workforce Statistics Bulletin are addressed below:

1) Changes in source of administrative systems or methodology:

The data within this publication have been extracted from the Single Operating Platform (SOP). SOP is an administrative IT system which holds HR information. This document will set out any caveats to consider when interpreting the statistics as a result of the transition to SOP as well as details of where there have been revisions to data as a result of any changes in methodology. Statistics affected within the main bulletin and accompanying tables will also be appropriately marked.

2) Receipt of subsequent information:

The nature of any administrative system is that there may be time lags with regards to when data are recorded. This means that any revisions or additions may not be captured in time to be included in the subsequent publication. For the workforce statistics bulletin, this predominantly relates to the data on joiners, leavers and sickness at the end of each quarter within the financial year. Unless it is deemed that these processes make significant changes to the statistics released, revisions will only be made as part of the subsequent publication within the time series. Data are fixed at the end of each financial year.

3) Errors in statistical systems and processes:

Occasionally errors can occur in statistical processes; procedures are constantly reviewed to minimise this risk. Should a significant error be found, the publication on the website will be updated and an errata slip published documenting the revision.

Revised figures are indicated with an ‘(r)’ superscript beside each figure affected.

Reporting of figure differences

Full time equivalent figures are rounded to the nearest whole number, while percentages and working days lost are rounded to one decimal place. Due to this rounding, reported differences may appear not to match the apparent difference between the reported figures. For example, if a previous percentage was reported as 46.7% (rounded from 46.74%) and the new percentage 46.9% (rounded from 46.86%), then the difference reported would be 0.1 percentage points (rounded from 0.12).

4. Explanatory notes - symbols and conventions

The following symbols are used within the tables in this bulletin:

..	not available
~	values of two or fewer (or other values which would allow values of 2 or fewer to be derived by subtraction)
-	not applicable
(p)	Provisional data
(r)	Revised data

5. Explanatory notes

On 1 April 2017, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) replaced the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). 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 a number of partners to carry out the sentences given by the courts, either in custody or the community.

The agency is made up of HM Prison Service (HMPS), the Probation Service and a headquarters. In addition, the Youth Custody Service (YCS) was launched in April 2017 and forms another distinct arm of HMPPS. Further information on the introduction of the YCS and its remit, and how it may affect the presentation of HMPPS workforce statistics in the future is set out later in this document.

6. Users and uses of these statistics

These statistics have many intended uses by a diverse range of users and are designed to meet as many of the needs of these users as possible in the most useful and meaningful format.

Intended use of statistics:	Summary of main statistical needs:
Ministry of Justice ministers	Use the statistics to monitor changes to HMPPS staff numbers, and to the structure of the organisation over time.
MPs, House of Lords and Justice Select Committee	These statistics are used to answer parliamentary questions. This publication aims to address the large majority of parliamentary questions asked.
Trade unions	Used as a source of statistics to inform the work of the unions in relation to the staffing within HMPPS.
Policy teams	These statistics are used to inform policy development, to monitor impact of changes over time and to model future changes and their impact on the system. This publication addresses the primary questions internal users ask on a regular basis and forms the basis for workforce monitoring and decision making.
Academia, students and businesses	Used as a source of statistics for research purposes and to support lectures, presentations and conferences
Journalists	As a compendium of quality assured data on HMPPS staff, to enable an accurate and coherent story to be told.
Voluntary sector	Data are used to monitor how trends within the staff population relate to trends observed in offenders, to reuse the data in their own briefing and research papers and to inform policy work and responses to consultations.
General public	Data are used to respond to ad-hoc requests and requests made under the Freedom of Information Act, to provide greater transparency of staffing and equalities related issues in HMPPS.

7. Background to HMPPS

HMPPS delivers services directly through public sector prisons and the Probation Service across England and Wales and commissions services through private sector prisons. HMPPS also work with a number of partners (including charities, local councils, youth offending teams and the police) in order to provide services and to support the justice system.

The information presented in this bulletin relates to staff who are employed by HMPPS, who are all civil servants. Other workers within HMPPS who are employed by third parties, either within contracted areas of delivery such as private sector prisons or as contractors and other contingent workers, including other non-civil service public sector employees, within HMPPS are not included. Also excluded are voluntary workers, staff on loan within HMPPS, and those on secondment within HMPPS or on a career break.

HMPPS HQ Directorates and Area Services

HMPPS operates from a number of offices across the country, with its principal office in Westminster and from 2018, Canary Wharf. There are staff, organised regionally or nationally providing services directly to establishments and Local Delivery Units (e.g. HR business partners).

In April 2019 there were some changes to the organisational structures in HQ and these have been reflected in the tables.

Prison Service regional structures

A functional group structure has been adopted for the management of some Prison Service establishments; for example, a ‘young people’ category within the now distinct YCS and a ‘long-term/high security’ prisons category. Figure 1 outlines the functional group structure in place as of April 2018. As specified previously, the information in this bulletin does not include staff working in privately managed prisons.

7.1 Organisational Changes

Probation Service

In November 2019, over 1,200 FTE Probation Service staff were moved into the Community and Interventions directorate (part of HMPPS HQ and Area Services). These changes are included in this bulletin as of the September to December 2019 quarter.

During December 2019, 274 FTE Probation Service staff were transferred from the privately-run CRC in Wales to HMPPS, as the new establishment NPS Wales UM Transition. Their figures are included in this bulletin as of the September to December 2019 quarter.

In late June 2021, more than 7,000 staff from private sector Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRC) came together with probation staff already in the public sector in the new Probation Service.

From April 2021, the Probation Service has been undergoing a reorganisation, with staff moving into new Probation Delivery Units (PDUs).

In June 2022, around 1,000 Approved Premises staff were moved out of HQ directorates and back into Probation Service. This reverses a move from November and December 2019, when over 1,200 Probation Service staff moved to the Community and Interventions directorate, part of HMPPS HQ and Areas Services. As part of these changes two additional teams were moved in March 2023; AP Professionalisation Project and AP Counter Terrorism and Drug Strategy were moved out of the HQ directorate of Reducing Reoffending & Accommodation and into Probation directorate of National Approved Premises. Figures for all historical periods have been revised to reflect this change.

Public Sector Prisons

The Prison region of Immigration Removal Centre and Foreign National Centre (IRCs and FNCs) group was officially disbanded at the end of March 2021 and the prisons within it were moved to be managed by their respective geographical regions:

Morton Hall – East Midlands

Huntercombe – South Central

Maidstone – Kent, Surrey and Sussex

Avon & South Dorset Group has been renamed to Avon, South Dorset & Wiltshire. HMP Erlestoke moved from South Central to Avon, South Dorset & Wiltshire

HMP Aylesbury was part of the Long Term & High Security Estate but moved to South Central Region in October 2022.

Medway Secure Training Centre closed on 31 March 2020.

HMP Birmingham is a local adult male prison and was operated privately from 2011. From 20 August 2018, HMPPS exercised its right to step in and take over the running of HMP Birmingham for an initial period of six months, while the existing G4S management remained in place. This ‘step in’ action meant that HMPPS could provide additional resources and support to the prison in order to directly address the areas of failure identified in the inspection report. This period was further extended in February 2019, to 1 July 2019. From that point HMP Birmingham transferred back to HMPPS, and so any relevant figures from 1 July 2019 onwards within this publication will include HMP Birmingham.

Figure 1: Functional Group structure as of April 2018

Other establishments, however, are based on prison management regions (which do not always represent geographic areas) as outlined in Figure 2. It is for this reason that tables presenting breakdown by a regionally named group cannot necessarily be interpreted as a breakdown by geographical area.

Figure 2: Prison Service structure as of April 2018

Given the reporting period of this publication includes statistics covering the period after 1 April 2018, this HMPPS workforce statistics publication reflects this new group structure arrangement of PSPs, including the YCS.

Youth Custody Service

The Youth Custody Service (YCS) was launched in April 2017 to oversee day-to-day management of the under 18s young people’s estate. It now forms a distinct arm of HMPPS and aims to create stronger, clearer governance for the youth justice system. The YCS now has responsibility for all aspects of work with young people under the age of 18 both in Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) across England and Wales and in Medway Secure Training Centre (STC). It also has oversight of eight Secure Children’s Homes (SCH).

This change has meant that key functions including the transfer of identified staff from the Youth Justice Board (YJB) have now moved over to the YCS. These staff, along with those in Public Sector managed YOIs (currently located at Cookham Wood, Feltham (split site), Wetherby and Werrington) and Medway STC come under the newly formed YCS category.

Probation Service

On 1 June 2014, the way that probation services were delivered changed. Prior to that date probation services were delivered by 35 Probation Trusts across England and Wales, which were responsible for their own staffing. On 1 June 2014, the National Probation Service, which is responsible for high-risk offenders in the community, was created and staff in the Probation Trusts joined HMPPS as civil servants. The remainder of offenders were managed by Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs), which were contracted out to the private and voluntary sectors. The CRCs remained privately managed until late June 2021, whereby more than 7,000 staff from these private sector CRCs came together with the existing probation staff in the public sector to form the new Probation Service.

From April 2021, the Probation Service has been undergoing a reorganisation, with staff moving into new Probation Delivery Units (PDUs).

Table 1: Probation Service divisional structure

Approved Premises - London	Approved Premises - Midlands
London APs	East Midlands APs
Approved Premises - North East	West Midlands APs
North East APs	Approved Premises - North West
Yorkshire & Humberside APs	Greater Manchester APs
Approved Premises - South East and Eastern	North West APs
East of England APs	Approved Premises - South West & Central
Kent, Surrey & Sussex APs	South Central APs
National Approved Premises	South West APs
AP Professionalisation Project	North West Probation Service
AP Counter Terrorism and Drug Strategy	NPS North West Headquarters
Approved Premises BAU	NPS North West Corporate Services
East Midlands Probation Service	NPS North West Community Integration
NPS East Midlands Headquarters	PDU Central Lancashire
NPS East Midlands Corporate Services	PDU East Lancashire
NPS East Midlands Performance and Quality	PDU Warrington and Halton
NPS East Midlands Accr Prog and Structured Interv	PDU Cumbria
PDU Derby City	PDU East Cheshire
PDU Derbyshire	PDU West Cheshire
PDU East and West Lincolnshire	PDU Blackburn
PDU Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland	PDU North West Lancashire
PDU Nottingham City	PDU Liverpool North
PDU Nottinghamshire	PDU Liverpool South
NPS East Midlands Public Protection	PDU Sefton
NPS East Midlands UM CRC	PDU Knowsley and St Helens
East of England Probation Service	PDU Wirral
East of England Probation Regional Office	NPS North West Public Protection
PDU Bedfordshire	NPS North West Personality Disorder Projects
PDU Cambridgeshire	NPS North West UM CRC
PDU Essex North	South Central Probation Service
PDU Essex South	NPS South Central Corporate Services
PDU Hertfordshire	PDU Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes
PDU Norfolk and PDU Suffolk	PDU Oxfordshire
PDU Northamptonshire	PDU East Berkshire
Public Protection South East and Eastern	PDU West Berkshire
South East and Eastern Probation Service	PDU Hampshire North and East
Stakeholder Engagement South East and Eastern	NPS South Central Public Protection
Greater Manchester Probation Service	NPS South Central UM CRC
PDU Manchester North and PDU Manchester South	PDU Portsmouth and IoW
PDU Salford	South West Probation Service
PDU Bury and Rochdale and PDU Oldham	NPS South West Headquarters
PDU Stockport and Trafford	NPS South West Corporate Services
PDU Tameside	NPS South West Accr Prog and Structured Interv
PDU Bolton and PDU Wigan	PDU Bristol and South Gloucestershire
North West Probation Service	PDU Bath and North Somerset
Public Protection North West	PDU Somerset
Kent, Surrey and Sussex Probation Service	PDU Plymouth
Kent, Surrey and Sussex Probation Regional Office	PDU Devon and Torbay
NPS KSS Corporate Services	PDU Dorset
NPS KSS Accr Prog and Structured Interv	PDU Gloucestershire
PDU East Kent	NPS South West Public Protection
PDU West Kent	NPS South West Personality Disorder Projects
PDU Surrey	NPS South West UM CRC
PDU East Sussex	Wales Probation Service
PDU West Sussex	PDU Dyfed Powys
NPS KSS UM CRC	PDU Gwent
London Probation Service	PDU North Wales
PDU Barking, Dagenham and Havering	PDU Cardiff and the Vale
PDU Brent	PDU Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot
PDU Camden and Islington	PDU Cwm Taf Morgannwg
PDU Croydon	West Midlands Probation Service
PDU Ealing and Hillingdon	NPS West Midlands Headquarters
PDU Enfield and Haringey	NPS West Midlands Corporate Services
PDU Greenwich and Bexley	NPS West Midlands Performance and Quality
PDU Hackney and City	NPS West Midlands Community Integration
PDU Hammersmith, Fulham, Kensington, Chelsea, Westminster	NPS West Midlands ccr Prog and Structured Interv
PDU Harrow and Barnet	PDU Birmingham Central and South
PDU Kingston, Richmond and Hounslow	PDU Birmingham North, East and Solihull
PDU Lambeth	PDU Coventry
PDU Lewisham and Bromley	PDU Warwickshire
PDU Newham	PDU Dudley and Sandwell
PDU Redbridge and Waltham Forest	PDU Walsall and Wolverhampton
PDU Southwark	PDU Staffordshire and Stoke
PDU Tower Hamlets	PDU Herefordshire, Shropshire and Telford
PDU Wandsworth, Merton and Sutton	PDU Worcestershire
NPS London Public Protection Custody	NPS West Midlands Public Protection
NPS London Public Protection Community	NPS West Midlands Personality Disorder Projects
NPS London UM CRC	NPS West Midlands UM CRC
NPS London Corporate Services	Yorkshire and the Humber Probation Service
NPS London Headquarters	NPS YatH Corporate Services
NPS London Performance and Quality	NPS YatH Performance and Quality
London Victims Unit	NPS YatH Community Integration
North East Probation Service	NPS YatH Accr Prog and Structured Interv
NPS North East Headquarters	PDU Barnsley and Rotherham
NPS North East Corporate Services	PDU Doncaster
NPS North East Performance and Quality	PDU Sheffield
NPS North East Community Integration	PDU Bradford and Calderdale
NPS North East Accr Prog and Structured Interv	PDU Hull and East Riding
PDU County Durham and Darlington	PDU Kirklees
PDU Gateshead and South Tyneside	PDU Wakefield
PDU Sunderland	PDU Leeds
PDU Newcastle Upon Tyne	PDU North and North East Lincolnshire
PDU North Tyneside and Northumberland	PDU North Yorkshire
PDU Redcar, Cleveland and Middlesbrough	PDU York
PDU Stockton and Hartlepool	NPS YatH Public Protection
NPS North East Public Protection	NPS YatH Personality Disorder Projects
NPS North East Personality Disorder Projects	NPS YatH UM CRC
NPS North East UM CRC

Wales

Specifically, in Wales, prison and probation services are delivered together under a single directorate called HMPPS in Wales. There is a public sector youth custody estate providing custodial services for under 18-year olds.

8. HMPPS staff grades

Separate grading systems exist for staff in the Probation Service and the other parts of HMPPS. Probation Service staff transferred into HMPPS on the terms and conditions they had within Probation Trusts and those structures are still used. Probation Service staff work in band 1 for the most junior to band 6 then further bands from A to D for the most senior staff. Qualified Probation Officers typically work at band 4.

In Public Sector Prisons and HMPPS HQ, staff work in bands ranging from band 1 for the most junior staff to band 12 for the most senior prison Governors and managers as well as senior civil servants. Both operational and non-operational staff work within these banding structures.

Operational Staff within Public Sector Prisons

Operational staff within Public Sector Prisons specifically work in bands 2 to 11. The majority of these individuals are in the following grades:

• Band 2/ Operational Support: Staff in this grade perform a wide variety of duties, including checking in and supervising visitors, patrolling perimeter and grounds, escorting contractors and vehicles, searching buildings and searching prisoners’ property. A two-week Operations Assistant entry level training course is undertaken prior to commencement of duties.

• Band 3-4 (including specialists): this grade includes staff for whom this is their first prison officer level role in a Public Sector Prison. Once an individual has been offered a post as a prison officer, they will spend one week located in an establishment, undergo a 10-week Prison Officer Entry Level Training (POELT) course and then spend a further week in the establishment. Once this is completed and following their probationary year, they are considered fully trained; upon successful completion of prison officer training, a level 3 diploma in the management and care of individuals in the custodial environment will be awarded and the individual will then begin their career as a prison officer.

• Band 4 / supervising officer: staff in this grade will usually lead a team of prison officers.

• Band 5 / custodial manager: staff in this grade are first line managers with responsibility for band 2 – 4 operational staff.

Band 3 to 5 operational staff are collectively known as prison officers and are often grouped together.

Operational Staff within the Probation Service

Probation staff work in band 1 for the most junior to band 6 then further bands from A to D for the most senior staff. Probation officer level roles can be distinguished as follows:

• Band 3 / probation services officer: manages caseloads of medium and lower risk offenders during and after they are sentenced. Once a probation services officer undertakes and obtains the Professional Qualification in Probation (PQiP), they are eligible to apply for a probation officer role.

• Band 4 / probation officer: an individual working in this band represents a qualified probation officer and will manage caseloads of offenders during and after they are sentenced.

• Band 5 / senior probation officer: manages teams of probation officers.

In order to provide further clarity on figures related to probation officer roles, the grades outlined above have been separated out within the relevant publication tables.

Staff who are training to be a probation officer work as a probation services officer during their training, so a proportion of the probation services officers in post will be working towards the professional probation officer qualification. For the first time as of the 30 June 2019 bulletin, (published on 15 August 2019), a new annex has been produced which provides figures on Probation Officer staffing, vacancies and trainee numbers.

Nurses and other healthcare staff

Nurses and other healthcare staff are no longer directly employed by HMPPS. These services are now commissioned through Clinical Commissioning Groups. Although the publication tables continue to show historical trends over time for these grades, they are no longer being presented in the snapshot of HMPPS staff in post by grade table.

Headcount management

Governors now have the freedom to plan the workforce at their establishments by determining the number of staff in each role within their budget. This means that figures on staffing requirements are therefore continuously evolving. As a result, we are currently not in a position to present staff operating model figures in this publication.

9. Categorisation of prisoners

Prisons are categorised relating to the function of the establishment, dependent on the type or types of prisoner held. Prisoner security categories in the United Kingdom are assigned to every adult prisoner for the purposes of assigning them to a prison. The categories are based upon the severity of the crime and the risk posed should the person escape. Further details of the categories can be found in the Glossary of Terms.

In July 2018, The Verne was re-categorised from an Immigration Removal Centre to a Category C male training prison.

10. Data sources and data quality

The statistics in this bulletin relate to civil servants employed by HMPPS. The data presented in this publication have been extracted from the Single Operating Platform (SOP), an administrative IT system which holds HR information. SOP is a live dynamic system, not designed for use in presenting consistent statistical figures. Although both can generate what appear to be historical figures, subsequent updates to details of records on the system will only show the latest position, and not the position as it stood at the time in question.

Information relating to staff in post, joiners, leavers and sickness is closely scrutinised, and the data presented in this bulletin are considered to be fit for purpose. Extensive quality assurance of the data is undertaken, and care is taken when processing and analysing the data. While the figures shown have been validated and independently checked, the information collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. More specifically though, this publication includes statistics produced using cuts of data taken from SOP. As a result, additional validation of this data has been necessary, including the use of alternative approaches to support production of the statistics.

For statistical and archive purposes, monthly extracts have been taken from the data systems, which allow consistent figures to be obtained for historical time points. It is not uncommon for a small number of updates to have been implemented slightly in arrears. To account for this, the data extracts used for statistical purposes have been taken at a pre-determined point in time shortly after the situation date. This process accommodates the majority of such late updates whilst maintaining the timeliness of the data. While this has been a standard, and indeed a suitable approach to obtain accurate and timely data from HR systems, there is the inevitable potential for a small number of late updates to be missed, occurring after the monthly extracts are captured. As the time series expands, future workforce statistics publications will rely more on SOP for figures on historical points in time. However, the possibility of data updates being missed will still remain since monthly extracts will continue to be generated through SOP in such a way that there is balance between capturing the bulk of late updates and ensuring the timeliness of the data.

Certain aspects of the data held on SOP relating to the Probation Service are not currently of the quality necessary to be included in a publication of official statistics. The breakdown of Probation Service data into figures for separate work areas has not yet been possible using SOP.

Between January and March 2017, during migration of data to the SOP, there was also an under-recording of sickness absence spells. There is therefore likely to be an undercount of working days lost for the 12 months to 31 March 2017 and subsequent under-estimate of average working days lost. Furthermore, figures for the 12 months to 31 March 2018 and 12 months to 30 June 2018 should be treated with caution as they may also be affected.

Disclosure policy

It is MoJ disclosure policy to assess the risk of disclosure of sensitive information about identifiable individuals and the consequent harm that disclosure could cause. This risk is then balanced against the loss of utility of statistics that have been supressed.

Sensitive information includes protected characteristics such as race, disability, sexuality or religion of the individuals, or incidents that happen to staff that could cause distress to the individual or their family if they were disclosed. Examples would be conduct and discipline cases, grievances, sickness absence, or dismissals.

In this bulletin it has been assessed that the risk of identification of individuals is minimal and that the majority of the information presented is not sensitive in that it relates to attributes of grade and location. In most cases it has been concluded that the utility to users of unsuppressed statistics outweighs the small risk to individuals involved. Where suppression has been used, this generally applies to:

• small populations of staff with particular protected characteristics;

• the reasons for leaving where numbers by category may be/are low; or

• cells containing two or fewer cases together with secondary suppression of cells that could be used in combination with totals to deduce the original figures.

11. Methodology

Statistics presenting the changes to numbers of staff in post over time are of key importance to monitoring the effects of policy changes, financial accounting and transparency. The time series shows quarterly data, with annual figures taken at the end of each financial year back to 2016/17. This presents both the long-term and more recent trends.

When interpreting trends in the data, caution must be taken due to organisational changes which have occurred at various points during the time series presented in the workforce statistics bulletins and tables. More recently, as of 1 April 2017, when HMPPS was created, some teams and functions previously part of NOMS moved into the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) as implementation of a functional leadership model. The model was introduced with the aim of joining up corporate and professional services across MoJ and its agencies so as to improve outcomes, frontline delivery, organisational resilience and personal career paths. Staff in these roles transferred on the HR system between 1 April and 30 June 2017 and statistics presenting staff in post, as well as joiners and leavers, in this publication reflect these changes. Changes predominantly apply to those individuals working in corporate roles within HMPPS HQ and area services. Like-for-like comparisons cannot be consistently made from the data presented in the tables.

Furthermore, as set out earlier in this document, the creation of the YCS in April 2017 has meant another distinct category of HMPPS has been introduced. Four public sector managed YOIs and Medway STC have moved under the YCS umbrella along with staff in certain roles who were previously in the YJB. These individuals have now been included within these set of HMPPS workforce statistics. In terms of how these particular staffing figures appear in the statistics, central YCS units are categorised within HQ and Area Services whilst the Youth Custody Estate element of this new YCS category are now included separately in the publication tables. This covers staffing figures relating to Cookham Wood, Feltham, Werrington, and Wetherby Youth Offending Institutions (YOIs) as well as Medway Secure Training Centre (STC). Historically these figures would have been included within the wider Public Sector Prisons (PSP) category. However, in this edition, we have separated out the historical and latest figures for the Youth Custody Estate to allow comparisons to be made and to establish the trends over time for these YOIs and Medway STC.

Staff in post figures have been derived from snapshots taken on a monthly basis from the SOP databases. These have both captured all civil servants employed by HMPPS on the final working day of each month. The snapshots are usually taken two working days into the following month, allowing for some late updating to occur and thus improving the quality of the data, while remaining as timely as possible.

Statistics reported for the workforce bulletin relate to all staff who have a contract of employment with HMPPS. Staff are included irrespective of whether they are absent from work (paid or unpaid) on the day of the snapshot. The only staff excluded are those on career breaks and those on secondment or loan outside of HMPPS.

The constituent parts of HMPPS presented in this set of workforce statistics; HM Prison Service, the YCS, HMPPS HQ and Probation Service are defined in terms of organisational hierarchies and not grading structures. While staff in Probation Service grades make up the great majority of the Probation Service, there are a few staff working elsewhere in HMPPS who have Probation Service grades. Where staff are presented by grade in the bulletin, this information should not be used to identify the number of staff in that particular part of HMPPS.

Where definitions have changed over the time series (for example changes to grade names), it is possible to retain comparability across the time series through presenting both the old and new names. In other cases, such as the change to the definition of HQ, current definitions are used and carried back, as consistency across the period is enabled through the HQ and Area Services total, which aligns to the former HQ definition. Should definitions not be appropriate to be carried back due to non-alignment with previous definitions, a break in the time series would be presented with explanatory footnotes in the relevant sections of the bulletin/accompanying tables.

In the relevant tables, establishments have been presented in the region they were classified in from 1 April 2018. This may result in revisions to information presented in previously published time periods. Any reclassification of establishments into different regions from 1 April 2018 has been reflected in this publication. As outlined previously, prison regional structure is not always based on where the establishment is situated geographically so tables by region cannot be interpreted as a breakdown by geographical area.

When the statistics are broken down by region, category of establishment and grade, staff in post figures are presented as full-time equivalent (FTE). FTE figures are used as they take into account the different working patterns amongst staff. Considering variations in the number of hours worked by staff therefore provides a more accurate measure of the true/actual available resource compared to staff headcount. Where a member of staff works the standard hours for their grade they are counted as full time (1 FTE). Staff who work less than standard hours are allocated an FTE in proportion to their contracted hours and the standard hours for the grade. Work undertaken in addition to standard hours, such as overtime is not taken into account in calculating FTE.

Data are not routinely available on working patterns other than full time/part time status since decisions on flexible working, working from home, and other aspects of working patterns are often handled at a local level. Full time/part time is also a status which may fluctuate across an individual’s career. Part time as a grouping covers a wide range of working patterns and working hours.

Where data are readily available, figures are also presented by protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. Protected characteristics information is recorded for HMPPS staff on gender, age, race, disability, sexual orientation and religion / belief. Currently, there remains certain fields, defined as protective characteristics, which are not sufficiently populated to be able to present as statistics; however, it is intended that that coverage will increase over time.

When considering the protected characteristics, it is the actual number of individuals which is important, and not the resource those individuals contribute. For this reason, the only appropriate measure is the headcount, and not FTE. Caution should be exercised in attempting to make comparisons between the composition of the HMPPS workforce and the wider population of England and Wales on the basis of 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, rendering such comparisons invalid.

Data on the protected characteristics are collected from self-declared, non-compulsory fields on the SOP database. 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.

The publication also presents the number of joiners (newly recruited) who have started work in HMPPS and leavers from HMPPS during the preceding 12-month period for each date point. Figures are taken over a 12 month period for a number of reasons, primarily as the numbers involved would not be sufficient to permit breakdowns over a shorter period of time, and seasonal influences may impair fair comparison of trends over time should less than 12 months be presented.

Joiners and leavers figures record the inflow and outflow staffing transactions taking place between the first and last working day of the month. With the exception of existing HMPPS staff who have re-graded to prison officer, the other staff movements relate to movements into or out of HMPPS rather than internal movements between sites and grades. The information has been taken from the SOP database. Data on joiners and leavers are continuously updated. The data covered in this publication has been extracted eight working days into the next month to accommodate as many late entries as possible while minimising the impact on timeliness. Nevertheless, given the nature of the data, time lags will still remain which is why the reported data points for joiners and leavers within the current financial year are marked as provisional pending the final running of the March data in April each year.

Staff leaving on the final working day of a given month will appear both in the staff in post record for that month (having been employed by HMPPS on the last day of the month) and in the leavers record for that month (having left employment on the last day of the month). For this reason, staff in post, joiners and leavers figures do not fully reconcile.

Joiners and leavers are presented on a headcount basis for a number of reasons – those joining the department who work part-time often arrange to do so after starting, and not at the moment of joining. Similarly, the FTE recorded on leaving is often not representative of working patterns throughout the entire period of employment. For these reasons FTE on joining or leaving is a poor measure of the actual FTE resource the individual will represent or will have represented during their career in HMPPS. FTE figures for joiners and leavers will not reflect the changes to FTE of staff in post as continuing staff may change their FTE at any time. These are not data quality issues but are inherent in the nature of staff data. Headcount figures are therefore used for all joiners and leavers tables. For joiners and leavers, the same breakdowns of region, function of establishment (category) and grade are provided. Reasons for leaving is also presented for leavers. However, since January 2017, information regarding dismissals has made no distinction between those as a result of medical inefficiencies and those which are due to unsatisfactory attendances. These two categories of dismissals have therefore been combined.

The bulletin also includes information on the leaving rate amongst HMPPS staff. These are presented to enable easier comparisons of staff retention over time. To prevent the rates being distorted by factors such as the number of staff on fixed-term contracts, they relate to staff on permanent contracts only. Furthermore, exit schemes instigated by the Department involving voluntary early departure and redundancies are excluded so that only the behaviour of individuals is measured. For these reasons the number of leavers and staff in post used in the calculations are not the same as those presented in other parts of the bulletin. The underlying leaving rate of staff is therefore calculated by taking the number of permanent staff who left HMPPS (excluding leavers due to Voluntary Early Departure Scheme (VEDS), voluntary redundancy or compulsory redundancy) in the last 12 months and dividing by the average number of permanent staff in post in the last 12 months; this average is calculated as the mean of the start and ends of the year and the three quarter ends within the year.

A new table has been included as from September 2018 which looks at the underlying resignation rate by grade. The underlying resignation rate of staff is the number of permanent staff who resigned from HMPPS employment in the last 12 months divided by the average number of permanent staff in post in the last 12 months; this average is calculated as the mean of the start and ends of the year and the three quarter ends within the year.

Changes to the available resource is measured by the net change of staff in post full time equivalent (FTE). These are presented in the staff in post FTE tables.

Where tables present information on length of service, this is defined as the number of completed years from the latest date of entry to HMPPS to the reference date of the table, or in the case of leavers, the date the employee left. However, it must be noted that the Probation Service was created on 1 June 2014 and the service of Probation Service staff in Probation Trusts prior to the creation of the Probation Service is not included. Therefore, the figures relating to the length of service of Probation Service staff, and which are included in the HMPPS overall figures, do not necessarily represent their full experience, but rather the length of service from entry to HMPPS.

Two further tables showing the snapshot of the staff in post FTE by grade and then individual establishment for Public Sector Prisons and by PDU cluster for Probation Service are included to give the current structural picture. These tables do not include time series, due in part to the size of the tables, but more importantly as a result of the dynamic nature of establishments and PDU clusters, which change frequently, rendering a time series of less value.

Tables presenting average working day lost due to sickness absence by grade and by breakdown of HMPPS structure as well as working days lost by category of sickness are also included. Average working days lost are calculated by taking the number of working days lost in the last 12 months and dividing by the average number of staff in post in the last 12 months; this average is calculated as the mean of the last 12 quarter ends of the year.

12. Glossary of terms

Grades:

Fair and Sustainable	From April 2012 new recruits to HMPPS (previously NOMS), and staff moving into new roles, were employed under a new grading structure known as ‘Fair and Sustainable’. The new structures covered all roles except for nurses and other healthcare staff employed on NHS terms and conditions and senior civil servants. The Probation Service is also not subject to Fair and Sustainable structures. In 2013/14 all existing HMPPS (previously NOMS) staff were given the opportunity to opt into the new structure, although opting in was not mandatory. There are 11 pay-bands under Fair and Sustainable with band 1 being the least senior and band 11 the most senior. Further detail on the roles being undertaken is given by a job description. Within this report the staff already within the new bands are reported alongside the equivalent in the old grading structure.
Prison Service and YCS Operational	Includes prison officers, supervising officers, custodial managers, operational managers and operational support grades. Staff within these grades are included as operational even if they are currently fulfilling a non-operational or headquarters role. Operational roles in the old grading structure also include senior officers and principal officers. In 2013/14 all existing HMPPS (previously NOMS) staff were transferred into the new grading structure. They were given the opportunity to adopt the new terms and conditions, including pay, although opting in was not mandatory. There are 11 pay-bands under Fair and Sustainable, with band 1 being the least senior and band 11 the most senior. Further detail on the roles being undertaken is given by a job description. Within this report, the staff who are subject to current terms and conditions are reported in the pay band for their role, alongside the staff who have retained the terms and conditions of the equivalent grade in the old grading structure. This group relates to staff outside of the Probation Service only.
HM Prison Service, YCS and HMPPSS HQ Non- Operational	Refers to staff in all grades outside of the Probation Service and who are not included within the operational group. Non-operational roles within the new Fair and Sustainable structures include roles at band 1 to band 11 and also include staff on NHS terms and conditions and senior civil servants.
Probation Service Grades	These are grades filled by staff who have transferred into HMPPS (previously NOMS) from former Probation Trusts or who have joined the Probation Service since June 2014. They cover a range of roles within the Probation Service. Grades are organised into 10 bands; these are bands 1 to 6 and then bands A to D.
Senior Civil Servant	Members of the Senior Civil Service in HMPPS include the chief executive officer, directors and some leaders reporting directly to directors, at senior civil service pay bands 1, 2 and 3.
Bands 9-11 / Senior Managers	Treasury equivalent grades 6 and 7. Typically unit and team leaders. These staff within the new Fair and Sustainable structures include roles at band 9 to band 11.
Bands 5-8 / Managers	Treasury equivalent grades of higher executive officer (HEO) and senior executive officer (SEO), which in general have line management responsibility. They cover a range of work within HMPPS, including administration, operational management and professional and technical roles. Manager grade psychologists are reported under psychology rather than as managers. Managers within the Fair and Sustainable structures include roles at band 5 to band 8. Amongst operational staff only these roles begin at Fair and Sustainable band 7. Operational staff at band 5 are reported separately as band 5 / Custodial Managers and there are no operational roles at Band 6.
Band 4 / Executive Officer	Administrative staff based either in establishments or headquarters, sometimes with line-management responsibilities. These staff within the new Fair and Sustainable structures are at band 4.
Band 3 / Administrative Officer	Business administrator roles either in establishments or headquarters. The role has no line management responsibilities. These staff within the new Fair and Sustainable structures are at band 3.
Band 2 / Administrative Assistant	Provide administrative support in both establishments and headquarters. They have no line management responsibility. These staff within the new Fair and Sustainable structures are at band 2.
Other Admin	Administrative staff within other roles not described above such as secretaries and typists. These staff within the new Fair and Sustainable structures can fill roles at band 2 to band 4.
Psychology	Includes psychologists of all grades, trainee psychologists, and psychological assistants (who do not undertake psychological work, but offer administrative support to psychologists). Within the new Fair and Sustainable structures psychology roles include band 4 to band 10.
Chaplaincy	Chaplaincy is committed to serving the needs of prisoners, staff and faith communities. Chaplains from a wide range of faith traditions work within the public sector Prison Service, including Buddhist, Church of England, Free Church, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Roman Catholic, and Sikh. A substantial amount of these services are provided by non-employed staff on a sessional basis, which are not included in the figures presented in this report. Chaplains fill roles in bands 5 and 7 under the Fair and Sustainable structures.
Healthcare - Nursing Grades	NHS nursing grades working within HMPPS. The majority of the work is primary care but because of the sometimes-complex nature of the prisoners’ problems work ranges from substance misuse, management of communicable diseases, mental health etc. Nurses working within prisons are now employed through Clinical Commissioning Groups.
Healthcare - Other healthcare	Other staff working in healthcare within HMPPS such as pharmacists, medical technical offices and medical officers. These staff working in prisons are now employed through Clinical Commissioning Groups.
Industrial / Facilities	Employed in areas such as works departments, kitchens, waste management and land-based activities. Industrials fill roles in band 2 to band 4 under the Fair and Sustainable structures. Most of these roles are now undertaken by private contractors.
Instructional Officers	Instructional officers provide prisoners with vocational training, such as in engineering, plastics, printing, tailoring, footwear, woodwork.
Other Grades	These staff cover a range of other roles within HMPPS, including work in stores, land-based activities and catering. The roles are typically below manager level and cover band 1 to band 4 under the new Fair and Sustainable structures.
Band 5 / Custodial Managers	This category represents the continuation of the principal officer grade as custodial managers under the ‘Fair and Sustainable’ structures. The principal officer grade was closed to new entrants, as of 2010. In 2010, principal officers were offered employment as developing Prison Service managers (non-uniformed). Those that declined this offer remained as principal officers, however, recruitment to this rank has closed. Under the ‘Fair and Sustainable’ structures there is a new role at band 5 of custodial manager, which encompasses much of the work previously carried out by principal officers.
Band 4 / Supervising Officer	This category represents the continuation from the senior officer grade to the new grades under the ‘Fair and Sustainable’ structures of supervising officer and also prison officer specialist roles. The closed grade of senior officer had line management for prison officers, operational support grades and other staff within their area of responsibility. They manage delivery of the regime, work routines and activities appropriate to their area of responsibility and the wider establishment when acting as the orderly officer. Under Fair and Sustainable there is a new role at band 4 of supervising officer which encompasses some of the work previously carried out by senior officers although they no longer line-manage prison officers directly.
Band 3-4 / Prison Officer (incl. specialists)	Prison officers work directly with prisoners, supervising and managing activities, promoting pro social behaviour, encouraging prisoners to address their offending behaviour and ensure that all Prison Service rules, orders and instructions are followed. Under Fair and Sustainable prison officers fill band 3 operational roles. Some prison officers have a specialism such as physical education, instruction or catering. Prior to ‘Fair and Sustainable’ specialist officers received an allowance for their specialism while they now receive no allowance but are banded as band 4s.
Band 2 / Operational Support	Operational support grades are employed on a wide variety of duties. These include: checking in visitors , supervision of visitors, patrolling perimeter and grounds, supervising small selected prisoner work parties, escorting contractors & vehicles, searching buildings, searching prisoners property, stores duties, routine administrative work, night patrol duties, drivers and navigators, switchboard duties, canteen and kit exchange duties, Emergency Control Room (ECR) and Communications Room, personal safety, rub down searching of prisoners. Under Fair and Sustainable operational support roles are at band 2.
Bands A to D	These are assistant chief officers, the most senior staff within the Probation Service, who cover a range of managerial functions such as high level ICT roles and heads of Local Delivery Units (Probation Service and CRCs). Specific roles within the Probation Service include heads of public protection, divisional training managers and heads of ICT support.
Probation Officer	Professionally qualified staff. They carry out the following tasks; assessment of offenders of any category (including high risk), preparation of court reports and sentence plans, implementation of interventions, supervision of offenders and enforcement action as necessary. They also have a stakeholder liaison role.
Probation Services Officer	Probation services officers (PSOs) who are offender managers for medium and low risk offenders. Staff studying under the probation qualifications framework (PQF) towards becoming fully qualified probation officers are also categorised as PSOs.
Other Band 4-6	Probation band 6 roles include Local Delivery Unit managers, Approved Premises managers and area managers. Probation band 5 roles include managers in HR, IT and Finance. Probation band 4 roles outside of probation officers themselves can be in HR, IT, finance and assistant managers in the Approved Premises.
Bands 1 to 3	Probation band 3 staff work in roles including administration, HR, finance, Approved Premises, IT and unpaid Work. There are also administration and secretarial staff, court staff, trainers and those who deal with case administration, ViSOR (sex offender’s register) and victims. Probation band 2 roles are mostly case administrators, drivers, approved premises night staff, receptionists and clerical staff. Probation band 1 roles include administration, catering, telephonists and IT positions.
Senior Probation Officer	Senior probation officers (SPOs) manage teams of probation officers.

Category:

HQ (Headquarters)	The headquarters function of HMPPS. Staff are based in London and at various offices across England and Wales but work on the central administration of HMPPS. Central administration includes management of establishments through Prison Group Directors.
Area Services	These are units that operate on a regional or sometimes national basis but provide services directly to establishments and where staff are often based within establishments.
HQ and Area Services	The combination of current definitions of HQ and Area Services, as it corresponds with definition of HQ prior to March 2013 within statistical reporting, thus enabling continuity of figures.
Establishments	Public Sector Prison Service establishments. These include prisons, young offender institutions, secure training centres, remand centres and immigration removal centres operated on behalf on the UK Borders Agency.
Male category B/ Male category C/ Female closed	Closed training prisons provide a range of facilities for category B and category C adult male prisoners and closed condition adult females who are serving medium to long-term sentences. Prisoners tend to be employed in a variety of activities such as prison workshops, gardens and education and in offending behaviour programmes.
Male dispersal	These prisons hold the most difficult and dangerous prisoners in England and Wales including those assessed as category A. They serve to spread the category A population, ensuring that the most dangerous prisoners are not concentrated in a single establishment, thereby reducing the risks involved in holding them.
Female local/ Male local	Local prisons serve the courts and receive remand and post-conviction prisoners, prior to their allocation to other establishments.
Female open/ Male open	Open prisons house category D adult male prisoners and open condition adult females whose risk of absconding is considered to be low, or who are of little risk to the public because of the nature of their offence. Open prisons also house long-term prisoners who are coming towards the end of their sentence and who have gradually worked their way down the categories. Open prisons are part of the resettlement programme to reintegrate prisoners back into society. Whilst open prisons may have some workshop facilities, some of the prisoners will work in the community, returning to the prison in the evening.
Male closed YOI (ages 15-21)	Young offender institutions (YOIs) holding young adults (18 to 21 years old). May also include young people (aged 15 to 17) who are held separately from adults within the establishment.
Male YOI young people (ages 15-17)	Young offender institutions (YOIs) holding young people (15 to 17 years old).
Male open YOI	Open YOI prisons house young adult prisoners whose risk of absconding is considered to be low, or who are of little risk to the public because of the nature of their offence.
Semi open	Semi open prisons (also known as resettlement prisons) serve a similar function to open prisons, though they are aimed at resettling long-term prisoners rather than those who may have been classified as category D from the outset. Prisoners may, subject to an assessment of risk, undertake community or paid work.
Cluster	Cluster prisons may contain a number of prisons with different functions.
Secure Training Centres	HMPPS took over the management of Medway Secure Training Centre (STC) from June 2016. STCs look after a mixed sex cohort which includes children as young as 12 up until the age of 17.

Probation Service Work Area:	Work area describes, broadly, the work that the target role encompasses and then the fact the staff member is, broadly, doing that type of role. For workforce planning purposes it represents the amount of work that is required and what work staff are doing in any reference period. If a staff member was to move roles then their ‘work area’ would change also.
Offender Management	Probation Service staff primarily delivering probation activities to manage and supervise high risk offenders in the community and in preparation for release into the community.
Courts	Probation Service staff primarily delivering probation activities to Courts, including pre-sentence reports, initial offender assessment, breach reports, and case allocation.
Approved Premises	Probation Service staff delivering services to offenders housed in the community, as a transition environment from custody to the community.
Victims	Probation Service staff primarily delivering post sentence liaison services to victims of violent and sexual offences.
Programmes	Probation Service staff primarily delivering sex offender accredited programmes.
Other Interventions	Probation Service staff primarily delivering probation interventions to change and control offenders.
Administrative Functions	Probation Service staff supporting the delivery of Probation Service probation services but not part of HMPPS HQ.
Public / Private Prisons	Probation Service staff delivering services in prisons.
Loan / Secondment Requirement	Probation Service staff that have been loaned or seconded out of their Probation Service unit, including to other parts of HMPPS.
Youth Offending Services	Probation Service staff delivering services to Local Authority Youth Offender Services.
Other or Blank	There are a range of other work areas Probation Service staff can be allocated to relating to staff working in Prison Service establishments, HMPPS HQ or local authority Youth Offending Teams.
Prison Group Directors	Senior managers responsible for the line-management of establishments organised either regionally or for Wales or for all Long Term / High Security Prisons or for the Young People’s Estate.
Prison Service Region	A functional group structure has been adopted for the management of some Prison Service establishments (i.e. for ‘young people’ within a distinct Youth Custody Service; for ‘long-term/high security’ prisons; and prisons for women) whilst others are based on prison management regions. In Wales, prison and probation services are delivered together under a single directorate called HMPPS in Wales. There is a public sector youth custody estate providing custodial services for under 18 year olds.
Probation Service Division	The regional management structure used within the Probation Service and which consists of a number of local delivery units. Wales appears alongside the divisions of England although it is managed through the HMPPS in Wales directorate.
PDU Cluster	A grouping of local Probation Service delivery units organised together for management purposes.
Young People’s Estate	Establishments holding young people managed within a distinct Youth Custody Service although geographically spread across England and Wales.

Staff Movements

Staff In Post	The number of staff working in HMPPS and with a contract of employment with HMPPS, excludes those on career breaks and those on secondment or loan outside of HMPPS but includes staff on secondment or loan into HMPPS. Staff in post can be measured on either a headcount or full-time equivalent basis. Only staff in the public sector Prison Service HMPPS HQ and Probation Service are directly employed by HMPPS and therefore staffing in private sector establishments and other contractors are excluded. The public sector Prison Service includes a number of Immigration Removal Centres that are operated by HMPPS on behalf of the Home Office and STC Medway which is operated by HMPPS on behalf of Youth Justice Board and staffing within these establishments is included.
Joiners	All those individuals newly and externally recruited into a post who have started work in HMPPS (for band 3-5 prison officer grades, this includes those who have commenced the prison officer entry level training, known as POELT). This includes those newly recruited from outside the Civil Service, those returning to the department who had previously left the department, those transferring to a post from another Government Department (including the central Ministry of Justice) on a permanent basis, but not those on secondment or transfers/promotions from within the department itself. Joiners also referred to as those who have been newly appointed.
Internal Conversions of Existing HMPPS Staff to Prison Officer	These figures relate to existing HMPPS staff who became prison officers. These figures are provided in addition to new officer recruits to provide a complete picture of the recruitment of officers. The staff involved are not however, counted amongst either joiners or leavers into or out of HMPPS.
Leavers	All those individuals leaving a post and ceasing to work for HMPPS for any reason. This does not include those taking up external posts on secondment, who would be expected to return or those taking a career break. Staff who transferred out of HMPPS as a result of machinery of Government changes were generally not included within leaver numbers. Staff moving to the private sector as part of a transfer of control of an entire establishment were also generally not included as leavers.
Underlying Leaving Rate	The underlying leaving rate of staff is the number of permanent staff who left HMPPS (other than by Voluntary Early Departure Scheme (VEDS), voluntary redundancy or compulsory redundancy but including early retirees) in the last 12 months divided by the average number of permanent staff in post in the last 12 months; this average is calculated as the mean of the start and ends of the year and the three quarter ends within the year.
Underlying Resignation Rate	The underlying resignation rate of staff is the number of permanent staff who resigned from HMPPS employment in the last 12 months divided by the average number of permanent staff in post in the last 12 months; this average is calculated as the mean of the start and ends of the year and the three quarter ends within the year.
Sickness absence	Figures relating to sickness absence are presented as average working day lost due to sickness absence by grade and by breakdown of HMPPS structure as well as working days lost by category of sickness. Average working days lost are calculated by taking the number of working days lost in the last 12 months and dividing by the average number of staff in post in the last 12 months; this average is calculated as the mean of the last 12 quarter ends of the year.
FTE – Full Time Equivalent	This is a measure of the staffing resource available based on contracted hours. Where a member of staff works the standard hours for their grade they are counted as full-time (1 FTE). Staff who work less than standard hours are allocated an FTE in proportion to their contracted hours and the standard hours for the grade. Additional work undertaken in addition to standard hours, such as overtime is not taken into account in calculating FTE.
Headcount	Headcount means the actual number of individuals within the workforce. Both part-time and full-time individuals are counted equally, irrespective of the number of hours worked. Headcount is the preferred measure in counting the population for a basic demographics profile and analysis of equality and diversity data. Headcount is preferred also when looking at the number of individuals joining or leaving the department, as the FTE of an individual at the point of joining or leaving often is not reflective of the FTE the same individual had or will have during the period for which they are in post.
Protected Characteristic	The Equality Act 2010 introduced the term “protected characteristics” to refer to groups that are protected under the Act. These are: age, disability, ethnicity/race, gender, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, sexual orientation
Ethnic Minorities	Black, Asian and other Ethnic minorities. This is a standard term used across Government and in wider society to describe collectively all those declaring themselves to be of a non-white background. Any individuals describing themselves as ‘White British’, ‘White English’, ‘White Welsh’, White Scottish, ‘White Irish’, ‘White Irish Traveller’, or ‘White Other’ will not be classified as Ethnic Minority, on the basis that each of these elements constitutes the majority ethnic grouping of the UK. The nationality of these individuals is irrelevant. All other declarations will be recorded as of an Ethnic Minority origin, on the basic principle that they will all be part of a grouping which is not of the UK ethnic majority as defined above.
Unknown	The unknown category against protected characteristics includes those who have actively stated that they prefer not to disclose information on the protected characteristic, those who have not provided any response and those who have not been asked to declare.
LGB	Lesbian, gay and bisexual.
Declaration Rate	The percentage of staff in post headcount who have actively made a declaration within a protected characteristic (excluding those who specified that they choose not to declare).

Representation Rate

The percentage of staff that are, or have made a declaration that they are in a particular category or group of categories (usually a minority group) within a protected characteristic. Where the declaration rate is less than 100%, the percentage is of all those with a known declaration, excluding all unknown, not declared, not surveyed and those who have chosen not to declare. This is the best estimate of the actual representation of the group in question within the population. However, as the proportion of staff making declarations decreases, the accuracy of the representation rate is likely to decrease, as members of some groups may be less likely to choose to declare than others. Therefore where the declaration rate is less than a minimum threshold of 60%, a representation rate is not given as it is not likely to have any meaningful indication of the actual representation within the population in question.

Reasons for Leaving

Resignation	Staff who tendered their resignation from HMPPS.
Retirement	Staff who retired from HMPPS and take part or all of their pension. This will normally be at or beyond minimum retirement age but could be earlier. Staff taking medical retirement were not included as retirements. This will not include staff who immediately return as re-employed pensioners.
Medical retirement	Staff who retired for medical reasons after occupational physician ill-health retirement consideration and where ill-health retirement had been granted after a Capita report.
Voluntary exit	This could have been offered where the organisation wished to reduce staff numbers by offering an early exit scheme or an early exit package to an individual. There was no compulsion on individuals to accept the offer. There was a standard tariff of 1 month’s pay per year of service up to a maximum of 21 months for those under scheme pension age. Employers may have offered more or less than the standard tariff subject to limits. Tapering of compensation will have applied where the member was close to scheme pension age. For those over scheme pension age there was a maximum of 6 month’s pay.
Voluntary redundancy	When a redundancy scheme is offered, the employer decides who they want to let go and what selection criteria are used. It is not necessary to apply for voluntary redundancy. Those who do apply do not have to accept the offer to go. However, the employer could make those individuals compulsorily redundant at a later stage. Those who apply for voluntary redundancy but the employer does not select, cannot be made to leave under compulsory terms for that exercise. Those who accept voluntary redundancy will receive a cash payment as compensation.
Compulsory redundancy	Before the employer can serve a redundancy notice, they will have followed the protocols for handling surplus staff situations or a similar process. A voluntary redundancy scheme must have already been offered and must be linked to the compulsory redundancy scheme, covering the same staff. Those made compulsorily redundant will receive a cash payment as compensation.
Dismissal	Staff can be dismissed for various reasons including conduct, poor performance, medical inefficiency and unsatisfactory attendance. Medical inefficiency occurs in situations when it becomes clear that a member of staff is absent and will not return to work in an acceptable timescale or is unable to give regular and effective service in the duties of their grade under Civil Service guidelines. Dismissal as a result of unsatisfactory attendance relates to staff who have been through the unsatisfactory attendance procedures. However, under SOP, dismissals as a result of medical inefficiencies and unsatisfactory attendances have not been reported separately. These two categories of dismissals have therefore been combined.
Transfer to other Government department	Transfer to another Government Department as a civil servant, including other parts of the Ministry of Justice outside of HMPPS as a result of individual arrangements. Does not cover machinery of Government movements.
Public Sector transfer	These represent movements of staff to other employers within the public sector other than transfers to another Government Department as a civil servant.
Other Leavers	Other leavers mainly consist of end of temporary contracts. Where movements are the result of structural changes involving parts of the organisational moving out from HMPPS they are not counted as leavers.