This article covers both the Prison and Probation Services in England and Wales as they are at present, and mentions the slightly different systems in Scotland. The two services have been merged into a single National Offender Management Service (NOMS), which is part of the Ministry of Justice.

The Prison Service

Overview
The current prison population in England and Wales (May 2011) is almost 85,000, very close to the useable operational capacity. Most prisons (138) are publicly operated but 11 are private, and different prisons may also have different levels of security to accommodate various categories of prisoner. Prison capacity has increased by more than 23,000 places since 1997, and another 15,000 places are planned, expanding capacity to 96,000 places by 2014.
Prisons are categorised on the security level of prisoner they can accommodate. Adult and young (under 21) male prisoners are given a category, based on the chances they will try to escape, and the danger to the public if they succeed:

• Category A – an escape would be highly dangerous to the public or national security
• Category B – maximum security not required, but escape needs to be made very difficult
• Category C – unlikely to try to escape but cannot be trusted in open conditions
• Category D – trusted to wander freely but must attend daily roll calls.

Prison security categories for women are similar to those for males, while juveniles (aged 15 to 17) are sent to young offender institutions (YOIs).

Prisons in the Services
The Military Corrective Training Centre at Colchester is the only military ‘prison’ in the UK, reserved primarily for those who the authorities believe could develop into good Servicemen and women despite their transgressions. Staff are drawn from all three Services and come from a wide variety of military backgrounds.
Service people thinking of working in the Prison Service are advised to attend a course that prepares them for the role and the selection process (see below). Each prison is responsible for recruiting its own staff; there is no shortage of applicants, so preparation is valuable.

Employment
The Prison Service offers exciting career opportunities across a variety of types of work, including prison officer, instructional officer, healthcare, chaplaincy, operational support, managerial and admin (to find out more about all of these and more these, visit the Prison Service website – see ‘Key contacts’). We will focus here, however, on the work of the prison officer.
Prison officers’ duties include:

• carrying out security checks and searching procedures
• supervising prisoners, keeping account of prisoners in their charge and maintaining order
• employing authorised physical control and restraint procedures, where appropriate
• taking care of prisoners and their property
• providing appropriate care and support for prisoners at risk of self-harm
• promoting anti-bullying and suicide prevention policies
• taking an active part in rehabilitation programmes for prisoners
• assessing and advising prisoners
• writing fair and perceptive reports on prisoners.

They are expected to work a variety of shifts, including nights, weekends and some long days. Normal weekly working hours average 39 hours over a shift cycle. Once appointed there are opportunities to move into more specialist roles such as physical educational instructor or dog handler.

Prison officers need to be fit and able to work with people; they also need to be able to help prisoners develop the personal skills and self-confidence necessary to re-enter society. Many offenders arrive in prison with drug, mental health and/or educational problems. More than half of prisoners left school with no qualifications, and a third have literacy skills at or below the level of those expected of an 11 year old.

Vacancies for prison officers in England and Wales are advertised on the HM Prison Service website (see ‘Key contacts’); in Scotland, the Scottish Prison Service recruits centrally. Applicants need to be aged between 18 and 62. They must also meet nationality regulations, be fit and healthy, have reasonable eyesight and be able to move house. They should not have a criminal record or be an undischarged bankrupt, and will undergo a security check.
Those who meet these requirements will be emailed a two-part online Prison Officer Selection Test (POST), and must complete the numerical element on their own within seven days. The language element will be taken at the next stage: the Recruitment Assessment Day (RAD). This is designed to measure skills and competencies for the prison officer role. It includes:

• a number of short role-play simulations
• a POST numeracy test (a shorter, paper-based version of the online numeracy test)
• the POST language test
• a medical
• a fitness test.

Other roles
Instructors supervise and train inmates in a wide variety of skills, with many prisoners working towards NVQs and SVQs. In English and Welsh prisons, most instructors are specialists while, in Scotland, there is more scope to combine custodial duties with instruction and training. Those employed as instructors should have a recognised apprenticeship in their trade (e.g. engineering, plastics, printing, tailoring, footwear, woodwork) and about five years’ experience.
Prison managers are selected from principal prison officers and by open competition from external applicants. They run and manage prisons and units within prisons, although newly appointed governors will look after a particular function like security or staff training. Individuals can enter the Prison Service and move into a governor or deputy governor role after just two years of training and development. The Senior Prison Manager Programme is open to experienced managers outside the Prison Service as well as non-operational staff within.

Career progression
While junior prison officers and instructors can expect to stay in one place, more senior officers and managers will be posted to wherever they are needed and there are suitable vacancies. Promotion is by exam, interview, simulated work programmes and selection.

Salaries
Prison officers start at almost £18,000, rising to £28,000. Senior officers earn more than £30,000, and principal officers from £31,500 to £32,500. Shift allowances, London weighting and certain specialist skills pay are in addition. Instructors are on a similar scale. Managers’ salaries start at £23,500, rising to £80,000 for a senior manager.

The Probation Service

Overview
Each year the Probation Service begins the supervision of more than 170,000 offenders. Male offenders make up nearly 90% of this figure. The average age of those under court order supervision is 30, with 25% of all offenders supervised aged 23 or under. About 9% of those on supervision are from minority ethnic groups.
An offender on probation will be supervised and supported by a probation officer when:

• given a community sentence
• the Parole Board releases them early from jail
• they are automatically released from prison after serving three-quarters of their sentence.

Offenders on probation must comply with the rules and requirements specified by court orders or release licences. If they break the rules they face disciplinary action, including the risk of being sent to prison. Other requirements may include:

• completing community sentences successfully
• completing alcohol and drug treatment
• staying in a probation hostel
• staying away from the area where a crime was committed.

The National Probation Service (NPS) now comes under the banner of the aforementioned National Offender Management Service (NOMS), part of the Ministry of Justice. In total, there are 35 Probation Trusts in England and Wales, which generally fall in line with police area boundaries. The Service works to provide supervision of offenders, primarily in the community. It also assists in compiling reports for the courts, which aid in sentencing of individuals. (Probation management is the responsibility of social workers in Scotland so there is no separate probation service.)

Probation officers can also work in prisons, helping offenders and their families cope with sentences and prepare for release. They also work with non-offenders to provide social work support in such areas as the welfare of children in family proceedings. To become a probation officer, you will need a genuine interest in working closely with people, and being able to provide advice and guidance that may change their lives. Probation officers may specialise in certain areas such as hostels or community punishment, but the broad range of duties of a probation officer might cover includes: court work (as noted above); helping with the preparation of reports; interviewing offenders (sometimes in their own homes); dealing with referrals for substance misuse, health and accommodation; work or training difficulties; arranging community work placements for offenders; maintaining effective links with statutory and voluntary organisations; supervising offenders within a residential hostel environment.

How do I qualify as a probation services officer?
Vacancies for unqualified PSOs are advertised by local employers, the aforementioned Probation Trusts. Selection criteria will focus on your potential to qualify as a PSO within a year of appointment. If you are successfully appointed then you will be provided with learning and development opportunities to enable you to: assess the risk of harm and reoffending; value diversity; communicate effectively; support changes in behaviour; work with others; develop your own skills; work in a specialist area.
Within the first year of practice, you will be required to demonstrate competence in these areas as part of the PSO qualification, the Vocational Qualification Diploma in Probation Practice level 3 (VQ3).

How do I qualify as a probation officer?
There are two routes to qualify as eligible to apply for probation officer posts:

1. a work-based honours degree in Community Justice and Vocational Qualification Diploma in Probation Practice level 5 (VQ5) – to gain access to this route you will first have obtained the VQ3 described above and then be selected by your local Probation Trust to undertake the degree; you will study for the honours degree and gain competence for the Vocational Diploma in Probation Practice level 5, while undertaking work as a PSO; this route usually takes three years to complete

2. a work-based Graduate Diploma in Community Justice and Vocational Qualification Diploma in Probation Practice level 5 (VQ5) – if you have an honours degree, or a joint/combined honours degree that includes a minimum of 50% of one of the following list of relevant degrees: Criminology, Police Studies, Community Justice, Criminal Justice, then you can apply for the Graduate Diploma route.

The selection criteria are determined by local Probation Trusts in partnership with their designated higher education provider and will focus upon the candidate’s ability to obtain the Graduate Diploma within 15 months (in the first six months, they will work towards achieving six units of the level 5 Vocational Diploma in Probation Practice; in the next nine months they will work towards achieving the remaining units of the VQ5 through a combination of academic study and work-based practice). Throughout their time with the Probation Trust they will be employed and work as a PSO.

In Scotland, social workers need an honours or postgraduate degree in social work and must register with the Scottish Social Services Council. Courses include practice learning, with the degree normally taking four years at university, and will usually take account of relevant qualifications and employment. An ordinary or honours degree will normally be needed before beginning the two-year, full-time postgraduate course.

Salaries and recruitment
Recruitment is managed by the individual Probation Trusts. Vacancies are usually advertised on their websites and in the local press. Applications need to be made to each employer directly. In Scotland, local authority social work departments are responsible for working with offenders.
Salaries for PSOs start at £21,391, although this may vary between different Trusts. Unsocial hours payments and London allowance may be awarded on top of this. Salaries increase with experience, usually annually, to the top of the pay scale, although this depends on satisfactory performance. There is a separate pay structure covering more senior probation officer grades.