- Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) to replace
National Offender Management Service (NOMS)
- new service will be responsible for rolling out government’s
reform programme to reduce reoffending and protect the public
- the service will launch new leadership programme and new
promotion opportunities for staff
- changes backed by additional £100 million to boost frontline
by an extra 2,500 staff
HMPPS will have full responsibility for the operational
management of offenders in custody and the community, including
strengthening security in prisons, tackling extremism and
building intelligence about criminal gangs.
Supported by work to recruit an extra 2,500 officers, the new
service will launch leadership and promotion programmes for
prison and probation officers to further professionalise and
build pride in the service.
The new operationally focused service will be supported by the
Ministry of Justice (MOJ) taking on responsibility for overall
future policy direction, setting standards, scrutinising prison
performance and commissioning services.
Justice Secretary said:
This new and operationally focused frontline service will
implement the reforms we have announced to make our prisons
safe and cut reoffending.
Our prison and probation officers do a vital job and they
deserve to work in a world-class organisation which supports
them in reforming offenders and keeping the public safe.
Creating HMPPS will bring clarity to managing our prisons and
probation services while further professionalising staff and
building pride in their work.
The move follows the Prison Safety and Reform White Paper which
outlined an overhaul of the prisons estate with the forthcoming
Prison and Courts Bill due to make reforming offenders a key duty
of prisons for the first time.
For the first time, there will also be a Board Director with
specific responsibility for women across the whole system,
reporting into HMPPS Chief Executive, Michael Spurr.
Michael Spurr said:
The launch of HMPPS provides a great opportunity to focus on
and improve operational performance in prisons and probation.
There is a great deal to do but I am confident that with the
additional resources the government are providing, we can
transform the system and deliver the high quality of service
the public deserve.
The service will be dedicated to professionalising the prison and
probation workforce. New schemes to improve promotion
opportunities have been launched, including:
- enhanced qualifications for probation officers
- a new leadership programme
- an apprenticeship scheme (to launch in April 2017)
- higher pay and recognition for specialist skilled officers
dealing with complex issues such as counter-terrorism, suicide
and self-harm support
This wholescale, organisational reform will be supported by
measures within the Prisons and Courts Bill, which will set out a
new framework and clear system of accountability for prisons,
building on the wide-ranging reforms set out in the Prison Safety
and Reform White Paper.
Notes to editors
Progress on recruitment and retention:
- we have made 389 job offers to new recruits wanting to join
the Prison Service which puts the government on track to recruit
the first 400 of the extra 2,500 frontline officers committed to
be in place by the end of March 2017
- boosting pay for hard-working staff by up to £4,000 at some
of the most difficult-to-recruit prisons and those with high
levels of staff-turnover, including HMP High Down, HMP Downview
and HMP Coldingley
- appointing 75 mentors for new starter prison officers to help
them in their first few months in the job which we know can be a
difficult time
- providing retention payments at sites with the greatest
levels of staff turnover. For example at Feltham which is close
to Heathrow we provide a £3000 retention payment;
- starting targeted local recruitment initiatives at 30 sites
so that governors can more easily recruit the people they need
- launching a new Prison Officer apprenticeship scheme next
year for over 1000 new officers that will help increase diversity
and make it easier to join the Prison Service
- developing a new graduate scheme that will encourage people
from a broader range of backgrounds to join the Service
- we have launched a Troops to Officers scheme that will
support people to join the prison service after leaving the
military
