Prison officers play a vital role in our justice system, which is reflected in the increase in the Scottish Prison Service resource budget by 10 per cent to £436.5 million this year. That will support the effective operation of our prisons as well as the recent two-year pay award, which has enabled the SPS to advertise better recruitment terms, which is continuing to assist with attracting new prison officers.
Last year, 581 appointments were made to prison officer roles, with plans in place to recruit up to 780 new officers this year, and the SPS’s current prison officer vacancy rate is less than 1 per cent.