Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Deferred
Amend prison staff recruitment to grant Governors ultimate decision and mandate face-to-face interviews.
Conclusion
Governors must have the ultimate decision on the recruitment of staff who work in their prison. HMPPS must amend its recruitment process to ensure that all frontline staff, including prison officers, undergo a mandatory face-to-face interview process led by Governors or a member of the senior leadership team. (Recommendation, Paragraph 37)
Government Response Summary
The government's response focuses on current and future investment in prison estate maintenance, including specific funding amounts and how priorities are set, entirely deflecting from the recommendation about Governors having ultimate decision-making power in recruitment and mandatory face-to-face interviews.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
24. Historic underinvestment and paused projects driven by a rising prison population has worsened the maintenance backlog and left the estate vulnerable to sudden capacity losses. A stable prison estate is essential to wider system ambitions, including reducing reoffending and improving safety and decency. For this reason, we are investing c. £300m for maintenance in 2025/26, up from £225m in 2024/25. 25. The department has secured an overall Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit (CDEL) settlement of £2.3 billion per annum for 2026/27 to 2028/29, and £2.0bn in 2029/30. Of this, £1.2bn each year from 2026/27 to 2028/29 and £1.140bn in 2029/30 is ring-fenced for prison expansion. 26. Specific allocations for prison maintenance will be confirmed through the forthcoming internal allocations process. Spending will be split between Fire Safety Improvement (FSI) programme and general capital maintenance and asset replacement across the estate. 27. Funding allocations are determined through a yearly process, so future capital maintenance spend will be determined year by year. Prison maintenance is not ring-fenced, and the department must balance this with other priorities, including digital infrastructure. 28. Maintenance priorities will always focus first on safety and compliance issues (such as those addressed by the FSI investments). Beyond that, the focus is on maintenance most likely to prevent loss of prison capacity. These priorities are not mutually exclusive maintenance projects can support both simultaneously.