Amid an ongoing crisis in the criminal justice system, prison and probation staff took more than 770 years of mental health sick leave last year, data has revealed.
In the year to March 2024, around 282,457 working days were lost at HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) due to mental illness.
Labour’s analysis says that this is the equivalent of 774 years, and it also warned that the number of sick days taken by prison and probation staff has increased by 148% since 2018, the earliest year for which current statistics are recorded.
Shadow justice minister Shabana Mahmood said the revelations were “reprehensible and show that workforce is in crisis”.
The latest prison and probation workforce data shows that mental illness now accounts for more than 40% of all recorded sick days.
While the overall number of sick days has fallen from around 753,000 to around 712,000 in the year to March 2023, the number of sick days due to mental illness has been steadily increasing year on year.
In 2018, the total was 113,820 cases, but in 2022, that number more than doubled to 228,276 cases, now the highest on record.
HMPPS said the average number of sick days across its facilities was 11, but Labour pointed out that rates within youth imprisonment (YOI) facilities were particularly higher than average.
Staff at YOI Wellington took an average of 18 days of sick leave last year, while staff at YOI Feltham took an average of 17.6 days.
Other prisons where staff ill health was particularly bad included Liverpool Prison (staff were off on average 19 days), Wandsworth (16.6 days on average) and Wymott (16.1 days on average).
Violence in prisons has increased in recent years, with assaults on staff on the rise across nearly full prisons.
Meanwhile, the prison’s riot control unit, the National Tactical Response Group, will be deployed more frequently in 2023 than in previous years.
And Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor warned that dangerous offenders are being released early from prison as part of the Government’s early release scheme.
Prison officers’ unions have warned they could sue the government if prison overcrowding problems worsen.
The POA fears prisons, which are nearing capacity, will be full by June and said it could take legal action under Health and Safety Act if prisons fall below safe capacity levels because wardens have no “right to strike” in England and Wales.
Shadow justice secretary Mr Mahmood said Labour would “take control of the prison and probation service”, telling the PA news agency: “These revelations are reprehensible and show the workforce is in crisis. Hard-working prison and probation staff have been exhausted by 14 years of Conservative misrule.”
She claimed that under the Conservative government prisons had become “drug-ridden, rat-infested universities of crime which inspire violence and misery”.
The Labour frontbencher added: “Just a few days ago Rishi Sunak declared himself the man to keep Britain safe, but he cannot keep the public safe if prisoners are being released early under his term and a truly demoralised Workforce is being left cleaning up the remains of the Conservative mess.”
“No wonder this is having a negative impact on staff’s mental health, but it’s the general public who are the real victims here – prison failures lead to recidivism and increased crime.”
The Ministry of Justice says the Prison and Probation Service provides mental health support to all staff where necessary and provides rapid referrals to deal with traumatic incidents and mental health referrals.
HMPPS also offers a ‘Mental Health Ally’ system, where staff can volunteer to be an ear to colleagues who need help.
Additionally, new employees will be supported with a mentorship program rolled out across the facility.
