23/11/2025
Prisons could lose 2,600 staff under new visa rules
Inside Time Reports 17th November 2025 1 *Newsround
Prisons could lose 2,600 staff under new visa rules
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New visa rules could force 2,600 prison staff to leave their jobs at jails in England and Wales and return to their homelands, leaked government data has suggested.
ITV News reported that it had seen confidential details of the numbers affected by new Home Office rules introduced in July, which say that any foreign national earning below a new salary threshold of £41,700 risks deportation when their current right-to-work visa expires.
Quoting a Prison Service source, the broadcaster said that around 2,200 of those affected would be prison officers, with the remaining 400 in support roles. Inside Time understands that the problem would be most acute in prisons in the south of England, especially the Victorian-era London jails.
Starting salaries for prison officers range from £33,730 to £44,500, and take 7 weeks to train an Officer ,with most earning below the threshold to remain in the UK. Inside Time revealed earlier this year that prisons recruited more than 700 staff from Nigeria alone in 2024.
The visa issue is reported to have created a rift in the Cabinet, with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood coming under strong pressure from Justice Secretary David Lammy and Prisons Minister Lord Timpson to change the rules and exempt prisons from the restriction. So far she has refused to do so.
Mark Fairhurst, national chair of the Prison Officers’ Association (POA), told ITV News that the number of staff on right-to-work visas revealed in the leaked data was “considerably higher” than expected. He said: “We simply cannot afford to lose that many frontline staff, and if the government does not exempt the Prison Service from the new salary thresholds, many prisons will not be able to function and we will totally destabilise the prison estate.”
A spokesperson for the Prison Governors’ Association (PGA) said: “The group of prison officers affected by recent visa rule changes are not just numbers on a spreadsheet; they are becoming a core part of our workforce, bringing vital experience and stability to our prisons.
“Forcing these officers out in large numbers would be a serious blow. Their departure will leave a gap that cannot be easily filled – and lack of experience is already a key factor in why conditions in some prisons are falling short. It would be short-sighted and damaging for the government to allow this situation to unfold.”
A report on HMP Liverpool, published last week by HM Inspectorate of Prisons, warned that 42 of its officers had been recently recruited from overseas and might have to leave their jobs, and the country, if Ms Mahmood does not back down. The inspectors said in their report: “Many of the 42 officers recently recruited from overseas were in danger of losing their visas to work in the UK due to recent changes introduced by the Home Office. This was creating significant anxiety for those staff involved and would impact heavily on staffing levels if these issues are not resolved at a national level.”
