§ Mr. Andersonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the complement of prison officers at the major London prisons; how far below these figures the current establishments are; and what are the implications of this for hours of overtime worked and costs of overtime over the most recent available six-month period.
§ Mr. MayhewThe authorised staffing levels and the staff in post figures for prison officers in the five major London prisons on 30 November 1982 were as follows:
ASL SIP Shortfall Brixton 652 572 80 Holloway 304 276 28 Pentonville 318 291 27 Wandsworth 341 298 43 Wormwood Scrubs 453 410 43 The amount of overtime worked is affected by so many variables—such as fluctuations in the court commitment, sickness, and absence on leave or on training courses—that it is not possible to identify separately the specific effect of shortfalls in staff. If, however, it is assumed that the conditioned hours of each vacant post are covered by overtime, the cost per vacancy per week in overtime is approximately £185.