Lindholme and Hatfield prisons short of staff, as more prison officers being recruited across England and Wales

It comes as the number of frontline prison officers has reached the highest level in over a decade. However, the Prison Reform Trust said new staff would “need time to bed in and learn” before this leads to stability in prisons.

Figures from the Ministry of Justice and HM Prison and Probation Service show there were 240 full-time equivalent prison officers working at Lindholme Prison as of March 31.

This meant the prison failed to meet its target of 241 officers in post.

However, staff levels were up slightly from the end of December, when the prison was also short-staffed and missed the target by three officers.

And at Hatfield there were 70 full-time equivalent prison officers working as of March 31.

This meant the prison failed to meet its target of 71 officers in post.

Staff levels were broadly in line with the end of December, when the prison was also short-staffed and missed the target by two officers.

Across England and Wales, 23,185 full-time equivalent prison officers were in post as of March, exceeding the target of 22,971. This was also the highest number in over a decade.

During the last quarter of 2023, prisons were short of 165 officers, while this figure was 1,180 in March of the same year.

Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, said while the figures are encouraging, it’s crucial the efforts made to improve staff recruitment are “matched by efforts to retain good staff”.

She said: “Staff need to feel invested in and experience a sense of purpose in their role in order to stay – this should become a leadership priority.”

Separate figures show while prisons were still short-staffed in winter, 7,086 assault incidents took place, including 2,517 on staff members.

At Lindholme Prison, 76 assaults were recorded, 32 of which involved staff. There were also 101 self-harm incidents.

Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “People in prison should be engaged in exercise, education, employment and training, which overstretched, understaffed jails are unable to provide.

“Instead, people are warehoused in unsafe conditions for hours on end with nothing to do, with suicides and assaults becoming increasingly common.”

He said government plans to expand the prison population to almost 114,800 by 2028 were “particularly concerning”.

“To address the dire experiences of people at risk of suicide and self-harm, the Government must commit to investing in staffing and significant reductions in the prison population,” he added.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “Our figures show the number of frontline prison officers has reached the highest level in over a decade, with 1,396 more officers in place compared to last year.

“It’s solid proof our decisive action to boost starting pay to more than £30,000 and launch our biggest ever recruitment campaign is working.”

They added £100 million had been invested into additional security measures, including body-worn cameras and PAVA spray, a synthetic pepper spray used to disable violent inmates.