Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 3
3
Accepted
Set out additional steps and targets to retain experienced probation staff within 18 months.
Recommendation
We are concerned that HMPPS is not doing enough to retain the experienced probation workers needed to safely manage its large and increasing caseload. Staff shortages and high caseloads are negatively affecting resettlement support for prison leavers. In 2021–22, 8% of probation officers left the service, the highest level in the last six years. People join the prison and probation services to “make a difference”, but those leaving often cite workload pressures and feeling unable to do a good job, with many probation staff managing more than 70 cases against a suggested case load of 30 to 60. HMPPS says it is seeking to improve staff retention through a new three-year pay deal and increased focus on development and wellbeing. It is also working to rebalance workloads by recruiting “a record number” of probation officers, with an extra 2,000 staff now in post across the service compared to a year earlier. However, recruitment will not provide an immediate solution to HMPPS’ problems. It takes 15 to 21 months to train new recruits and we remain concerned that the workforce no longer has the balance of experience it needs to safely manage the probation caseload. Recommendation 3: In its Treasury Minute response, HMPPS should set out what additional steps it will take to retain and incentivise experienced staff over the next 12 to 18 months and what targets it has for doing so.
Government Response Summary
The government agrees, stating HMPPS will implement additional steps over the next 12-18 months, including continuing its retention strategy, refreshing career pathways, and building on the Prison Officer Alumni scheme. HMPPS has set a target for a year-on-year decrease in staff leaving the organisation from 2022-23 to 2024-2025.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented HMPPS will take a number of additional steps to retain and incentivise experienced staff over the next 12-18 months. The agency will: • continue the work of its retention strategy and accompanying toolkit, which identifies local, regional and national interventions against the drivers of attrition, as well as reviewing findings from the retention oversight process, which targets sites with the highest attrition, and determines how local challenges can be tackled; • refresh the Career Pathways Framework, which aims to improve retention of experienced staff by showing the many career opportunities available in HMPPS, in particular for Probation staff reaching retirement. The agency has seen an increase in interest from frontline staff, and is committed to updating this regularly (next in January 2024, and quarterly thereafter); • build on the Prison Officer Alumni scheme, which fast-tracks former staff back into the service, by launching an equivalent for Probation by January 2024. This will attract experienced probation staff back into the service through a streamlined recruitment process; • pilot a level transfer scheme for prison officers to move between establishments, launched in October 2023, which creates opportunities for personal development and flexibility following changes in personal circumstances; • continue the national HMPPS brand campaign, launched in September 2023, to build pride and morale in the agency’s staff, raising the profile of the work they do; and • continue to promote the Probation Pathway initiative which encourages unsuccessful candidates for trainee probation officer and probation service officer roles to consider alternative roles also assessed during the same recruitment process where they are deemed appointable. HMPPS has committed to improving retention through setting a target of a year-on- year decrease in the proportion of staff leaving the organisation, from 2022-23 to 2024-2025. This may be seen in the staffing levels tracked through the HMPPS workforce statistics publication, which recently saw a decrease in the leaving rate of 1.9 percentage points across the organisation. This is in the context of a net increase in the total number of staff employed by HMPPS; as of September 2023, there were 64,168 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff in post across HMPPS, an increase of 4,856 FTE compared to September 2022.