Prison Security Officer: Roles, Departments and Pay

In shortThere is no single grade: the phrase covers four different roles with different pay, entry and duties, and HMPPS publishes no national job description, headcount or pay scale for a “security officer”.

People searching for “prison security officer” usually mean one of four things (listed below). The answer matters because pay, entry and duties differ completely between them. The table sets them side by side.

For wider grade context see prison officer ranks and grades. We have deliberately kept this guide to what can be verified.

• A prison officer who specialises in security intelligence.
• An operational support grade working security and searching at the gate.
• A member of a prison’s security department, the team that runs intelligence, searching and the Local Security Strategy.
• A private-sector or legacy “security officer” grade, such as the closed grade G4S Security Officer in the PSPRB’s pay tables at £25,876 on a 39-hour week.

In shortSecurity intelligence is a Band 4 prison officer specialism paid the Band 4 spot rate; the training content, number of posts and selection criteria are not published.

• Band 4 base, 37 hours£34,440National, from 1 April 2026
• Incl. 20% unsocial hours£41,328Band 4 spot rate

HMPPS’s career progression page lists security intelligence among the specialisms for a Band 4 prison officer specialist, and describes officers in this area as assessing intelligence information to help prevent incidents in the prison. See our Band 4 pay guide and the supervising officer role for the grade’s context.

• The Band 4 page lists “working in security intelligence” alongside dog handler, offender manager, physical education officer and programmes officer.
• You can move between these roles once you have completed the relevant training.
• To apply for Band 4, HMPPS says you must complete your probationary period at Band 3 and specialist training.
• The careers pages do not publish the content of the security intelligence training, the number of posts, or the selection criteria.

In shortSecurity is a prison-wide system, not one person’s job: each prison must set out how it operates in a Local Security Strategy, with a security department at its centre.

The HMPPS Management of the Local Security Strategy policy framework (issued 31 July 2024, implementation date 31 March 2025) says prisons are required to set out how security and the National Security Framework operate in their prison in a Local Security Strategy (LSS).

The LSS must be bespoke to the prison, clear for all staff, and built on a whole-prison, evidence-based risk assessment, reviewed at least annually and whenever risks change significantly. The research it cites says the assessment should include physical security, procedural security, dynamic security, intelligence, strategic integration and security capability.

• The strategy must set out how procedures are implemented across five risk areas (table below).
• Governors must ensure a nominated person is responsible for updating the strategy.
• Functional heads take responsibility for compliance in their areas and give assurance to the Governor and the Security Department.
• All amendments are authorised by the Governor.

In shortNational policy sits above each prison’s strategy, and assurance is kept separate from management.

These roles are senior and non-uniformed, and they are separate from the specialisms an officer chooses at Band 4. Our HMPPS structure guide shows how regions, Prison Group Directors and governors fit together.

Approval

Amendments to a prison’s LSS relating to Category A prisoners must be submitted to the Executive Director of Security for final approval, as must amendments relating to Restricted Status prisoners outside the high security estate. The framework was signed off by the Deputy Director of the Operational Security Group in the Directorate of Security, which shows where national security policy sits.

Assurance, public sector

Prison Group Directors monitor compliance using the tools in the framework, and quality assurance is provided by HMPPS Performance, Assurance and Risk Group through the security audit.

Assurance, contracted prisons

Quality assurance is by the same security audit; compliance monitoring is through standard contract management.

In shortPhones, drugs and drones are rising: 12,166 phone-find incidents and 26,348 drug finds in the 12 months to March 2025.

• Phone-find incidents12,16612 months to March 2025; up 14%
• Drug finds26,348Up 25%
• Drone incidents1,712Around prisons; up 43%

The PSPRB’s 2026 report describes growing security challenges. The report says HMPPS estimates around 9% of the prison population have links to serious and organised crime.

• HMPPS told the PSPRB it was investing about £40 million in physical security in 34 prisons.
• It had introduced mandatory protective body armour in the riskiest areas of the long-term high-security estate.
• It was trialling tasers.
• HMPPS’s Annual Digest for 2025-26, published on 30 July 2026, reported 26,630 drug finds, 13,284 weapon finds, 11,916 mobile phone finds and 14 escapes (12 the previous year). The figures are not like-for-like with the PSPRB’s earlier year, so treat them as separate snapshots.

In shortDay-to-day security is practical: searching, gate work, CCTV and phone monitoring, dog teams and acting on intelligence.

Day-to-day security is mostly practical: gate searches, searching people, vehicles, cells and areas, monitoring CCTV and phones, and acting on intelligence. HMPPS’s Searching Policy Framework (first published 3 October 2022, updated 31 March 2026) sets the mandatory searching requirements and applies to public sector prisons, contracted prisons and young offender institutions in England and Wales.

Its detail sits in the PDF, so read it or ask your security department for the version that applies.

Operational support grades

HMPPS describes OSGs as providing security and searches at the gate, managing deliveries, supervising visitors and monitoring phone calls and CCTV. See our operational support grade role guide.

Dog teams

Passive search dogs search people, active search dogs search operational areas, staff areas and vehicles, and general purpose dogs deter and support staff. See our prison dog handler guide.

ORRU

The Operational Response and Resilience Unit, which includes the National Tactical Response Group and National Dog and Technical Support Group, deploys to the most serious incidents, and members receive an £8,000 a year on-call allowance for being on call 26 weeks a year. That is a different role from a prison’s own security department.

In shortUnauthorised conveyance is a criminal offence under the Prison Act 1952, and staff corruption is treated as a security risk as well as a conduct issue.

Security matters in law as well as policy. The conduct research behind this site records the offences below. Authorisation can be granted by the Secretary of State or the Governor and must be recorded.

• Prison Act 1952 section 40B: unauthorised conveyance of List A items is an offence carrying up to 10 years.
• Section 40C covers List B items (up to 2 years) and List C items (fine only).
• Section 40D covers photographs and recordings, transmissions and certain electronic devices including mobile phones (up to 2 years on indictment).

In shortA security intelligence officer is paid the Band 4 spot rate and OSGs the Band 2 rate; no security-specific allowance appears in the sources.

• Band 4 incl. UWH£41,328Base £34,440; National, 37 hours
• Band 2 OSG base£25,409National, 37 hours
• Band 2 incl. 25% temporary payment£31,761

For a prison officer who moves into security intelligence, pay is the Band 4 spot rate. We found no security-specific allowance in the PSPRB’s Appendix G, and the pay dossier behind this site records that no pay data was found for security roles beyond the grade. Compare your numbers in the salary calculator.

1. Build your Band 3 experience and complete probation.
2. Ask your security department what training and vetting they expect before applying for a Band 4 vacancy.
3. Use the promotion calculator to see what Band 4 is worth.
4. Check live adverts for HMPPS non-uniformed intelligence posts: look at grade, vetting and duties rather than relying on a summary.

In shortHMPPS publishes no national security officer job description, security-department headcount, security allowance or intelligence training content.

Search results and third-party sites sometimes quote salaries and duties for a “prison security officer”; unless they cite an HMPPS advert, treat them as unverified. When in doubt, read the live advert and ask HR.

If you are comparing roles, read the guides on the operational support grade, supervising officer and prison dog handler posts, which are the closest published equivalents.