Context

The report starts by describing the significant changes in our prison system over the last fifteen years in particular. It notes that changes in sentencing over the last two decades guarantee that prison officers will in future be caring for people spending a much larger portion of their lives in custody. Simultaneously, confidence in traditional operating models for prisons has been undermined by a decade of violence, self-harm and disorder, and the physical withdrawal of staff from face to face contact with prisoners legitimised during the pandemic.

In this radically altered context, Mr Dawson argues that  the prison service faces a more profound question about the composition of its future workforce than simply whether it can recruit and retain enough people.

He argues that being a good prison officer is a much more sophisticated and skilful job than the prison service currently reflects in its critical human resource processes. If the prison service is to recruit and retain a workforce that can rise to the multiple challenges that it faces over the next decade and beyond, it must develop a new and explicit vision for the role of the
prison officer and the way that role needs to be supported.

The report argues that the viewpoint of prisoners is key to re-defining the prison officer role. 

Key findings

The report highlights four key findings:

• The current prison officer workforce faces unprecedented challenges stemming from staffing cuts made from 2012 onwards leading to a significant loss of experienced staff, and subsequent rapid recruitment of new staff to address shortages
• The traditional model of prison management, based on face-to-face relationships between officers and prisoners, is at risk of being lost due to high staff turnover and systemic pressures
• Prisoners consistently identified building rapport as the most crucial skill for effective prison officers
• Technology could potentially reduce some burdens on officers, allowing more time for relationship-building with prisoners

The report emphasises that while working towards prisoners’ successful return to society remains important, prisons must also focus on creating meaningful lives for those in custody, particularly given the increasing number of prisoners serving very long sentences.

“With so many prisoners spending many or all of their most productive years in the care of the prison service, that time has to have meaning in itself as well as hope for what might follow it.”

While acknowledging the current operational challenges facing the prison service, the report argues that these should not prevent the implementation of necessary strategic reforms to create a more professional and effective prison officer workforce for the future.

The report calls for:

1. A professional registration system: Implementation of a mandatory registration system for prison officers, similar to nursing, requiring regular renewal and ongoing professional development
2. Enhanced training: A radical enhancement of initial training, professional development, and supervision for prison officers
3. Improved management structure: Introduction of a maximum ratio of one manager to ten officers, with regular face-to-face observation of officer-prisoner interactions
4. Prisoner involvement: Greater involvement of prisoners in both the design and delivery of officer training and development programs
5. Board-level accountability: Appointment of an HR professional at board level with specific responsibility for implementing these reforms

The report notes that the prison service has recently launched a new prison officer training programme called Enable, which is being piloted in a few select sites. The programme aims to improve how prison officer training is delivered, the length of training officers receive and crucially the support, leadership and psychological environment required to make the training process meaningful.

Commenting, the report’s author Peter Dawson said:

“The starting point for a genuinely strategic approach to creating and sustaining an effective officer workforce must be a clearer statement of the purpose of prison that both staff and prisoners can share. The prison service must decide what its operating model for the future is to be, properly examining the nature of the population for which it will be caring. The foundation for the great majority of a way of life in prison should be the joint creation of safe, respectful and purposeful communities.”

Thanks to Andy Aitchison for kind permission to use the header image in this post. You can see Andy’s work here