Prison Officers: Vetting
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officer applicants failed security vetting in the past two years.
Answered by Jake Richards
Personnel Security Vetting is the first line of defence in the screening of people working for or on behalf of HMPPS, with the objective of preventing those unsuitable from entering the organisation.
From 1 June 2024 to 31 May 2026, a total of 16,425 prison officer applicants entered the HMPPS security vetting process. Of these, the number of prison officer applicants who failed security vetting checks was 2,141 (13%).
The figure for applicants who failed security vetting checks reflect those who applied for prison officer roles in public sector prison establishments across the United Kingdom and Wales and who were referred to the HMPPS Personnel Security Countermeasures (PSC) Vetting department for review by Shared Services Limited (SSL).
Verbatim has judged this answer against the question that was actually asked — answered, partly answered, or evaded. Sign in to see the verdict →