Operational Support Grade (OSG) Role: Prison Band 2 Explained

In shortAn OSG is a Band 2 security role: gate searches, deliveries, visitors, phone calls and CCTV, with limited prisoner contact.

The HMPPS Prison and Probation Jobs site says OSGs provide security and searches at the gate, manage deliveries, supervise visitors and monitor phone calls and CCTV. It adds that OSGs have limited prisoner contact, though that varies by prison location.

The role is Band 2 in the Fair and Sustainable structure, below Band 3 prison officer.

Not a prison officer

OSGs are uniformed or operational staff, but they are not prison officers. The distinction matters for pay, progression, overtime and pensions, and it matters in law: the Prison Act 1952 gives prison officers the powers of a constable while acting as such, and our guide to prison officer powers and legal authority covers what that means. We have not found an official statement of the OSG’s legal powers, so we do not describe them.

A changing role

The PSPRB has noted that the roles and responsibilities of OSG grades have changed over time. That is a reason to check the job description in a live advert rather than rely on older descriptions of the job. For the wider grade structure, see prison officer ranks and grades.

In shortHMPPS lists gate security and searches, deliveries, visitors, phone calls and CCTV, but publishes no detailed task list and duties vary by prison.

Gate security and searches cover people and vehicles entering and leaving the prison.

The security framework for each prison, the Local Security Strategy, requires every prison to set out locally how procedures are applied across five risk areas including conveyance and escape, so gate and search tasks sit at the front of that picture. Our guide to the prison security officer explains the wider security function.

• Managing deliveries, supervising visitors and monitoring CCTV and phone calls are the other listed duties.
• Duties vary between prisons: a large high security prison and a small open prison will use OSGs differently.
• The POA’s evidence to the PSPRB also referred to OSG drivers, including drivers for Operation Tornado and Category A or high security escorts, as an example of additional duties; that is the POA’s non-exhaustive list, not an HMPPS definition.
• If you want the detail before applying, read the job description attached to a live advert and ask about shift patterns, because gate and control-room roles run to rosters.

In shortBand 2 is a spot rate of £25,409 base, £31,761 including the temporary 25% unsocial hours payment, with its own overtime rule.

• 37h base£25,409National, from 1 April 2026
• 37h incl. 25% UWH£31,761National
• 39h with two PACH£33,478Two Pensionable Additional Committed Hours
• Outer / Inner London, 37h£36,051 / £38,28437-hour basis

Band 2 is a spot rate. From 1 April 2026 the National 37-hour base pay is £25,409 after the 3.5% award (the rate was £24,549 after only the National Living Wage uplift to £12.71 an hour).

Payment Plus is for officer grades Bands 3 to 5, so it is not an OSG payment. See our operational support grade pay guide for take-home examples and the salary calculator to work your own figures.

25% unsocial hours payment

The 25% rate, up from 20%, was introduced in the PSPRB’s 2025 Report for two years, and the 2026 report recommended maintaining it until the 2027 Report is published.

OSG overtime

Weekday time at 1.33 times the standard hourly base rate and weekend time at 1.75 times, with an extra £5 an hour permanently added, making the effective multipliers 1.72 and 2.14 on 2025 base rates. Overtime is non-pensionable and time off in lieu is single time only.

In shortOSGs are about 19% of the PSPRB remit group and a growing workforce, with an older profile and higher leaving rates than managers.

• OSG FTE, 30 September 20255,388About 19% of the remit group of 28,905
• Band 2 FTE, 30 June 20265,661HMPPS workforce statistics; 242 (4.5%) more than a year earlier
• Aged 50 or over43%Aged 50 or over; 19% aged 60 or over, the highest share of any grade group
• Female49.9%At 30 September 2025

That growth contrasts with a fall in Band 3 to 5 officers over the same period. Our prison staffing and attrition guide covers workforce trends.

• Between July 2023 and June 2025, ethnic minority candidates made up 43.6% of OSG applicants and 31.7% of formal offers accepted.
• Leaving rates are higher than for managers: the PSPRB reported Band 2 leaving rates decreasing from 14.4% to 13.0% between its two reporting periods.
• Average sickness absence was 12.2 days in the year to 30 September 2025.

In shortNo qualifications are needed, and you can tick OSG on the prison officer application to be considered for both.

OSG roles are advertised on HMPPS’s recruitment pages. HMPPS asks for basic mathematics, spelling, grammar and IT competence and fluent English, plus reasonable physical stamina and the ability to stay calm under pressure. Check the advert for the vetting and medical requirements that apply.

The prison officer application also lets you tick OSG as an alternative. HMPPS’s application page says you can opt to be considered for OSG at the same time, and the assessment centre assesses suitability for the role as well.

That means a candidate who is not successful for the officer role can still be considered for Band 2.

1. Check the live OSG advert and read the job description.
2. Apply online; tick OSG on the officer application if you want to be considered for both.
3. Complete the assessment and any vetting and medical checks.
4. Confirm contract hours, unsocial hours rate and zone with HR before accepting.

In shortThe OSG role can lead to other prison jobs, and Band 3 starts £3,167 higher, but the OSG-to-officer process is not published in detail.

HMPPS says the OSG role can provide opportunities to move into other prison jobs and offers significant knowledge and experience of how a prison operates, and that OSGs can gain an apprenticeship and progress their career.

The PSPRB reports that national recruitment was being strengthened with streamlined routes for existing OSGs to progress to prison officer roles, though it does not describe the process.

The jump in pay is real: National 37-hour Band 3 pay including UWH starts at £34,928 against £31,761 for Band 2 including the 25% allowance, a difference of £3,167 before contract-hours and Payment Plus effects. Band 3 officers also gain the powers and responsibilities of officers, discussed in our Band 3 pay guide.

In shortBand 2 pay is set through the PSPRB, but the POA wants OSGs returned to collective bargaining and staff views recorded by the PSPRB are mixed.

Band 2 is within the PSPRB’s remit, so its pay is set by the pay review body’s recommendations to government. Our PSPRB explained and industrial action guide explain how the system works for different grades.

In shortOSGs can earn Tornado and dirty protest payments and overtime, but market supplements for Band 3 do not apply to Band 2.

Besides base pay and the unsocial hours payment, there are a few Appendix G allowances. Closed grade OSG pay is £25,876 on a 39-hour week, a small group.

Market supplements apply to Band 3 officers at named prisons, not to Band 2, because Band 2 market supplements were consolidated into base pay from 1 April 2023.

• Operation Tornado: £30 an hour for OSGs (£40 for officers)
• Dirty protest allowance: £15 a day (4 hours or less) or £30 a day (over 4 hours)
• OSG overtime: 1.33 times weekday, 1.75 times weekend base rate plus £5 an hour
• Unsocial hours payment: 25% (temporary) of base pay

In shortOSG suits people who want a stable-rota prison career without the full prisoner-facing officer role, at lower pay than Band 3.

OSG suits people who want a prison career without the full prisoner-facing officer role, who like structured security work and who value a stable rota. It can also suit people who want to test the environment before applying to be an officer.

Its drawbacks are lower pay than Band 3, the particular morale concerns noted above and, for some, fewer promotion routes within the grade.

Weigh the unsocial hours too. The 25% payment compensates for them, but your roster still determines how many nights and weekends you work. The shift pattern earnings planner can show what a roster is worth.