§ Mr. O'Brienasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prison officers were on the payroll in (a) 1980, (b) 1981, (c) 1982, (d) 1983, (e) 1984, (f) 1985 and (g) 1986, respectively;
(2) what was the percentage change in the number of prison officers during each year from 1980.
§ Mr. MellorThe number of staff of the prison officer class in post at Prison Department outstations on 1 April each year from 1980, with year-on-year percentage changes, is as follows:
Staff in Post and Percentage Change over Previous Year Staff Percentage (a) 1 April 19 16,123 — (b) 1 April 19 17,065 +5.84 (c) 1 April 19 17,025 -0.23 (d) 1 April 19 17,538 +3.01 (e) 1 April 19 18,100 +3.20 (f) 1 April 19 18,409 +1.71 (g) 1 April 19 18,887 +2.60
§ Mr. O'Brienasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many new entry prison officers attended and completed courses through the central training organisation in each of the years from 1980.
§ Mr. MellorThe figures are as follows:
Joined for training Completed training 1980 1,319 1,345 1981 504 627 1982 677 464 1983 1,319 1,189 * 1984–85 1,065 1,235 1985–86 1,016 †713 * The figures for 1984–85 cover a 15-month period following a change from calendar to financial year monitoring. † Excludes 204 officers still undergoing training at the end of the year.