Press release

Prison Service Pay Review Body reports on prison pay

The eleventh report of the Prison Service Pay Review Body (PSPRB) is being published today. 

From:
Ministry of Justice
Published
13 March 2012
This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

The report makes recommendations on the pay of Governing Governors and other operational managers, Prison Officers and related support grades in England and Wales in 2012/13.  Copies have been laid in the Vote Office and the Library of the House.

The key recommendations for 2012 are as follows:

  • a consolidated increase of £250 to all pay points at, or below £21,000, including the first two points on the closed Prison Officer scale;

  • endorsement of the introduction of the new Bands 2 and 3 under ‘Fair and Sustainable’ for new external Prison Officer and OSG entrants and existing Prison Officer 2 and OSG staff who wish to opt into the new Bands from 1 April 2012;

  • an increase of 5 per cent to the hourly rate of the Operation Tornado Emergency Response payment;

  • all other allowances and payments to be frozen. 

Crispin Blunt, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prisons and Probation, said of the recommendations:

‘The Government continues to value the challenging and demanding work that is undertaken by prison staff. The Pay Review Bodies’ recommendations have been framed on the basis that we are currently in year two of the two year freeze on pay for public sector workforces announced by Government in the 2010 Emergency Budget to reduce the Nation’s financial deficit.

I can confirm that the Government has been able to accept the Pay Review Bodies’ recommendations, which will be implemented in full from 1 April 2012.’

NOMS Chief Executive Officer, Michael Spurr said:

‘I am pleased that the Prison Service Pay Review Body (PSPRB) endorse the implementation of our Fair and Sustainable proposals. These provide new working structures and pay reform, to ensure the long-term affordability and competitiveness of HM Prison Service.

HM Prison Service staff continue to provide a crucial service to the public. I welcome the PSPRB’s recommendations for pay this year and the Government’s decision to accept the recommendations in full.

The increases of £250 recommended by the Pay Review Body this year are in line with the Governments public sector pay guidelines and will therefore only apply to Prison Officer 2, Operational Support Grades and other support grades who earn less than the full time equivalent of £21, 000’.

Notes to editors

  1. This is the eleventh report of the Prison Service Pay Review Body (PSPRB).

  2. The role of the PSPRB is to provide independent advice on the remuneration of Governing Governors and other operational managers, Prison Officers and unified support grades within its remit in the England and Wales Prison Service. Of the approximately 32,200 staff within the remit group, the PSPRB recommendations this year affect circa 8,200 staff earning under £21,000.

  3. From April 2011 the PSPRB has been chaired by Dr Peter Knight CBE. Peter Knight retired from the position of Vice Chancellor of Birmingham City University in 2007 and has since held the appointment as a Local Government Boundary Commissioner for England. From 2004-2010 he was a member of the Armed Forces Pay Review Body.

  4. The full report is available on the Office of Manpower Economics website.

  5. For further information please call the Ministry of Justice Press Office on 020 3334 3536.

Published 13 March 2012