CIRC 089: NATIONAL CHAIR UPDATE DECEMBER 2025

Please bring the contents of this circular to the attention of all POA members.

 

EXEMPTION FOR OVERSEES RECRUITS

I am pleased to announce that the POA have secured a temporary exemption for our oversees recruits, which now means that most of our colleagues will have the right to sponsorship and visa extensions for up to the next 3 years.

Details include;

An agreed temporary exemption to recent changes to the Immigration Rules means that the department can sponsor Prison Officers in public Prisons for Skilled Worker visas.  

The changes implemented in July by the Government meant that Prison Officers no longer qualified for a Skilled Worker visa due to the Government’s decision to increase the skills threshold, which meant the role therefore did not meet the requirements for sponsorship. In many cases, the department could not offer sponsorship to existing staff whose visas expired or candidates in the recruitment pipeline. 

This exemption applies:

• from Friday 19th December following agreement between Ministers 

• temporarily until 31st December 2026, with a lower salary threshold (currently £33,400, but subject to updates each spring and the findings of the Migration Advisory Committee) applying until 31st December 2027 

• only to Prison Officers and not to other roles in the Ministry of Justice or its agencies 

• only to Prison Officers in the UK 

• until the Immigration Rules are changed in April, only to Prison Officers whose existing immigration permission is due to expire before 30th April 2026 

After the end dates above, any future applications by Prison Officers to extend their stay in the UK would need to meet the full Immigration Rules in place at the time.  This may mean they cannot be sponsored again.  It is likely that individuals may not qualify for settlement within the 3 years they could be sponsored for under this exemption.  Prison officers making use of the exemptions must therefore be made aware that the exemptions do not guarantee them a path to settling permanently in the UK.   

If you are an existing Prison Officer, you should contact the Resourcing Management Office (RMO) for a sponsorship request form. You then complete the form and return it to the team. 

The RMO will manage applications, prioritising those who are at risk of losing their right to work very soon. 

Prison Governors will not need to sign-off applications. 

There is a manual process for this exemption in the short-term. If you have applied and are eligible, you will receive clear instructions from the RMO on the action you need to take, and additional steps required. The RMO will guide you through this and provide support before you submit your personal visa application. 

 

Support for colleagues impacted

For sponsorship applications, email the Resourcing Management Office (RMO) at Resourcing-Management-Office@justice.gov.uk. 

For HR queries, contact your local HR Business Partner in the first instance. 
 
For right to work queries, contact RTW.Enquiries@justice.gov.uk. 
For wellbeing support, use the Employee Assistance Programme. 

‘PERSONAL OFFICER WORK’ IN THE OPEN ESTATE

I would like to begin by thanking all Open Estate Committees for their continued commitment and support in adhering to my directive to cease all Personal Officer work, as set out in update Circular 70 in October 2025. Since issuing that Circular, the NEC has been engaged in urgent discussions with HMPPS to safeguard your position in the workplace and to establish an agreed interim arrangement while we work towards a fully resourced and profiled National Personal Officer scheme.

I am pleased to confirm that we have now secured an interim agreement with HMPPS. This will allow us to progress collaboratively towards a national scheme that is properly profiled, supported, and sustainable.

Effective immediately, all local committees may revert to the working practices in place prior to the directive to cease Personal Officer work, while they develop local agreements with their respective SMTs.

The NEC has agreed the following interim position with HMPPS:

• Personal Officer work does not currently officially exist.

• Working practices previously referred to as ‘Personal Officer’ duties are to be regarded as Casework until a nationally agreed Personal Officer scheme is finalised, fully resourced, and appropriately profiled.

• Local committees may return to their previous working practices while progressing a local agreement with their SMT.

• Open prison sites that do not have the resources to undertake this work and have not previously done so will not be expected to do so until appropriate resourcing and profiling are in place.

NEC representatives will visit Open Prisons in the New Year to assist committees facilitate this work by measuring the work and agreeing the requirements to resource it so we may devise and agree a national personal officer scheme.

If you have any questions or require further guidance, please contact your Area NEC Representative, who will be happy to assist.

 

SENTENCING BILL UPDATE

The Government have announced that they will table an amendment to the Sentencing Bill to broaden the starting point for sentencing for the murder of a Police or Prison Officer in the course of their duty. It will apply not only where the murder occurs during the officer’s duties, but also where the motivation for the murder is connected to their current or former role. It will also extend this provision to cover the murder of Probation Officers in connection with their current or former duties.

This change ensures that the exceptional seriousness of murders - such as that of former Prison Custody Officer Lenny Scott - that are motivated by the vital work of these professionals is fully recognised in the sentencing framework.

In effect this now mandates a whole life tariff for the murder of a Prison Officer or former Prison Officer if motivated by their occupation or former occupation.

POA SCOTLAND

The Scottish National Committee have held a positive meeting with the Scottish Secretary of State for Justice addressing their concerns about overcrowding, the need to recruit more staff, investment to tackle organised criminal gangs and the threat of drones, and the need to ensure staff welfare at work is prioritised.

 

REPLACING OUT OF DATE OR DAMAGED PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE)

Local POA committees and Health and Safety Representatives are reminded that if they need to purchase new or replace old PPE, including C&R equipment, a common misunderstanding is that the budget for PPE is included within the uniform budget, it is not. There is no budget cap when it comes to replacing items of PPE that have been damaged or because they are now out of date with their life expectancy.

 

PRISON OFFICER UNIFORM COLOUR DECISION 

HMPPS have determined that for Prison Officers working in the Adult Male Estate, they will progress with the introduction of black utility tops in 2026. In the YCS, the colour for utility tops will continue to be navy blue. In the Women’s Estate they are currently considering whether navy blue or black would be the most appropriate colour.

 

All the best.

MARK FAIRHURST
National Chair