Hundreds of foreign prison officers will lose their jobs and could be forced to return to their home countries at short notice because of a change in visa rules introduced by Labour, governors and a union have warned.
More than 1,000 staff, mainly from African countries, have been sponsored by prisons across England and Wales allowing them to come to the UK on skilled worker visas.
But since a rule change in July, overseas prison officers whose contracts need to be renewed have been told that they are no longer eligible for a visa if they are paid below the threshold of £41,700. Keir Starmer promised in May to drive down net migration to the UK “significantly”.
Mark Fairhurst, the national chair of the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) union, said the change was “scandalous” and done in haste because the government was “pandering to Reform”.
“We have written to ministers asking them to reverse this decision and give prison officers an exemption because we need the staff they are forcing out of the country, but they won’t give it to us,” he said.
“It is because they are pandering to Reform: they want to seem tough on immigration and reduce the level of overseas workers. But as a result, prisons will be harder to manage, staff morale will plummet and hard-working colleagues will be forced to leave the country. It is a disgraceful way to treat them.”
Tom Wheatley, the president of the Prison Governors’ Association, said the changes to visa rules had come as a worrying surprise to members.
“This really matters for us as there are well over 1,000 prison officers who only have a limited right to work in the UK and are reliant on securing a skilled worker visa to be able to continue to work.
“People from overseas, particularly those from African nations, have accounted for about 80% of applications for prison officer jobs. It costs about £10,000 to recruit and train every prison officer and now governors are having to sack people when their right to work comes to an end. We’re losing some good people,” he said.
The Prison Service has failed to attract suitable UK applicants and so has sponsored skilled worker visas for overseas workers after a change in the rules enabled them to recruit from abroad.
In May, it emerged that more than 700 Nigerians had been recruited to work in UK prisons last year, accounting for 29% of job applicants and 12% of staff hired at public-sector prisons in England and Wales. The next most common country of origin was Ghana, with 140 job offers.
The government announced changes to the rules on 22 July meaning that skilled worker applicants had to be paid £41,700. Most new recruits are paid about £33,000.
The POA wrote to Shabana Mahmood, the then justice secretary, expressing surprise at the rule change and urging ministers to give dispensation for prison officer grades who would not reach the £41,700 salary level.
“This is causing a lot of distress for individuals and what it could mean for them with no real answers from HMPPS [HM Prison and Probation Service] or indeed government,” the letter said.
Lord Timpson, the prisons minister, replied that the government could not provide individuals with immigration advice or support with personal financial costs for maintaining their right to work in the UK. “I recognise that this is a difficult situation for individuals who may have been seeking sponsorship for a skilled worker visa,” he said.
The rules are already affecting the lives of prison officers who are being forced to return home.
The POA has taken up the case of a Nigerian-born prison officer who has lived with his family in the UK for three years and has been in his current prison officer job at HMP Liverpool since February.
Despite applying for a skilled worker visa renewal before 22 July, his application has been refused. He is now attempting to find an alternative sponsor with only two months left on his visa and facing the possibility that he will have to return with his wife and daughter to Nigeria within weeks, he has told the union.
The Ministry of Justice has been approached for comment.
