To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to assist the Scottish Prison Service in the recruitment of new officers, in the light of reported concerns regarding an ageing prison officer workforce. (S6O-03332)

Prison officers play a vital role in our justice system, which is reflected in the increase in the Scottish Prison Service resource budget by 10 per cent to £436.5 million this year. That will support the effective operation of our prisons as well as the recent two-year pay award, which has enabled the SPS to advertise better recruitment terms, which is continuing to assist with attracting new prison officers.

Last year, 581 appointments were made to prison officer roles, with plans in place to recruit up to 780 new officers this year, and the SPS’s current prison officer vacancy rate is less than 1 per cent.

Through discussions with prison staff in my South Scotland region and with constituents who have applied unsuccessfully to work for the service, it has become clear to me that the aptitude testing that is used for pre-interview screening is a barrier to recruitment. Prison staff told me that the best candidates for the position—those with life experience, strong interpersonal skills, empathy and understanding—are not always able to pass the numerical reasoning and spatial awareness online tests, which many feel are not relevant to the job. Given that, will the cabinet secretary outline whether that matter has been discussed with the SPS and whether consideration could be given to changing the aptitude testing for SPS recruitment?

Scottish Prison Service recruitment practices are aligned with civil service recruitment standards and are underpinned by an assessment of the skills, values and behaviours of prospective employees. In 2019, the SPS removed minimum qualification requirements for prison officers. However, the aptitude test remains a critical mechanism to assure the organisation that those coming into it have the required literacy, numeracy and reasoning skills to operate effectively as front-line members of staff in an operational role.

Although I have not discussed the issue with the SPS directly, I know that it regularly reviews its recruitment practices to ensure compliance with relevant guidance and legislation and to ensure that recruitment requirements are applied fairly and consistently.

HMP Kilmarnock recently transitioned into public ownership, but the process of harmonising staff contracts with public sector terms and conditions is taking longer than expected. The Prison Officers Association Scotland has estimated that the SPS needs to recruit between 50 and 70 new staff for the prison. When will the harmonisation process be complete? Can the cabinet secretary update us on how many of the additional staff that are needed have been recruited so far?

I assure Ms Dowey that there is no delay to the process, which was agreed and communicated well in advance of the very welcome move of HMP Kilmarnock into public ownership as part of the Scottish Prison Service.

As the SPS has said—and, indeed, as I have said on a number of occasions—the harmonisation process will take a year. That is because of the different—and, indeed, better—terms and conditions in the SPS, where there are two grades of prison officer. That is in contrast to the roles and grades in HMP Kilmarnock under its private owner. Harmonisation is an entirely normal and acceptable practice. It is excellent news that staff in HMP Kilmarnock will, in a short period of time, benefit from better terms and conditions.

Question 2 was not lodged.