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Prison Governors: Flexible Working and Remote Working

Asked by Nick TimothyConservativeMinistry of JusticeTabled Answered 1 June 2026UIN 3478

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service has a formal policy permitting operational prison governors to (a) work from home and (b) on compressed hours.

Answered by Jake Richards

His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), as an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Justice, operates in line with the Department’s Flexible Working Policy. Under this policy, all employees have a statutory right to request flexible working, and requests are considered on a case-by-case basis in line with business needs.

While governors can request flexible working, including home working and compressed hours, there is no automatic entitlement to any particular form of flexible working and these arrangements would be unlikely to be suitable on a regular or formal basis in most operational prison roles, given the need for an on-site presence to maintain safe and secure establishments.

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