What the PSPRB is, in plain English

In shortThe PSPRB is an independent advisory body: it recommends pay for prison staff in England and Wales, and Ministers decide whether to accept.

Your pay as a prison officer in England and Wales is not negotiated across a table the way pay is in most unionised workplaces. HMPPS (the employer), the Treasury and the unions send evidence to the PSPRB; it publishes recommendations; Ministers announce whether they accept them.

The pay tables, the Payment Plus rate, the dog handler allowance and London differentials in our pay bands guide are all products of that process. Everything here is for England and Wales unless stated, dated as at 3 October 2026.

This guide is the 'how' behind the numbers on our 2026/27 pay rise page. For 'what happened each year', see the award history; for awards against prices, see pay versus inflation.

PSPRB
An advisory non-departmental public body sponsored by the Ministry of Justice. In the words of its GOV.UK page, it gives independent advice on pay for governors, operational managers, prison officers and support grades in the England and Wales Prison Service and comparable roles in Northern Ireland.
Who is behind it
A panel of independent members led by a Chair, supported by a secretariat that its latest report names as the Office for the Pay Review Bodies.

Why prison officers have a pay review body instead of collective bargaining

In shortMost prison staff cannot lawfully take industrial action, so the PSPRB was created as a compensatory mechanism.

The reason is industrial relations law. Section 127 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 makes it unlawful to induce a prison officer to take industrial action, and the courts have enforced that against the Prison Officers' Association (POA). The detail is in our guide to prison officer strikes and industrial action.

The PSPRB's own report describes the body as created 'as a compensatory mechanism' for that loss of rights. The sequence it points to, from the International Labour Organization's 336th Report of the Committee on Freedom of Association (March 2005), is below.

What the pledge means in practice

  • Recommendations are not binding in law, but the Government said they would only be departed from in exceptional circumstances.
  • The PSPRB says that pledge gives it 'a particular responsibility' when drafting recommendations.
  • If Ministers reject any recommendation, the PSPRB expects the workforce to get a full explanation of the exceptional circumstances.

The ILO background, as the PSPRB summarises it

  1. August 2004POA complains to the ILO

    It said it had no right to strike and no adequate compensation for that.

  2. Government replyLink to voluntary agreements

    The Government told the ILO that the PSPRB's creation was linked to agreements under which the Prison Service gave up the right to set pay increases in exchange for the POA's agreement not to organise industrial action.

  3. March 2005ILO Committee report

    It recommended that the Government keep ensuring awards are binding on the parties and departed from only in exceptional circumstances.

Who and what is covered: the remit group

In shortThe remit group is 28,905 FTE operational staff, over 99% on Fair and Sustainable terms; Scotland and private prisons sit outside it.

  • Total remit group28,905FTE at 30 September 2025
  • Bands 3 to 522,534Officers, supervising officers, custodial managers
  • Band 2 OSGs5,388FTE
  • Bands 7 to 12983Manager and governor grades

The remit group is operational prison staff in the Fair and Sustainable structure plus a small number on legacy 'closed' grades. More than 99% are on Fair and Sustainable terms. The structure of the bands is covered in our pay bands guide and the Band 3 and Band 4 guides.

Inside and outside the remit

Outside the PSPRB's remit

Covered, but separate process

  • Northern Ireland officers are covered by the PSPRB.
  • The NI Justice Minister decides when to respond to and publish the NI report; the NI process is separate from the England and Wales process described here.
PSPRB remit group, England and Wales, at 30 September 2025 (FTE)
GroupFTEWhere to read more
Band 2: Operational Support Grades5,388Band 2 / OSG pay
Bands 3 to 5: officers, supervising officers, custodial managers22,534Band 3, Band 4, Band 5
Bands 7 to 12: managers and governors983Band 6 and 7
Total remit group28,905Pay hub

Source: PSPRB 25th Report, executive summary. FTE is full-time equivalent. The HMPPS workforce statistics use a different date and are not directly comparable.

What the PSPRB is told to consider

In shortIt must weigh recruitment, retention and affordability together, and the fixed departmental budget is the main tension.

The PSPRB works to standing terms of reference. Its latest report lists the main factors it must weigh, shown below. Notice what is on and off that list: cost of living is not a standalone test.

  • Whether the Prison Service can recruit and retain the numbers of suitably able staff it needs
  • Remit group morale
  • The labour market, including regional and local differences
  • Legal obligations on the Prison Service, including anti-discrimination law
  • Affordability of its proposals and the funds available within departmental limits
  • The Government's inflation target
  • Competitiveness with the private sector, taking account of terms and the broader package
  • Economic and other evidence from the Government, trade unions, staff and others

Inflation and affordability

Inflation enters through the 'Government's inflation target' and through the evidence. The PSPRB says in the 2026 report that it takes account of 'the overall high cost of living' alongside pay settlement data, earnings growth data and labour market data.

Affordability is explicit. The Treasury's evidence to all eight public-sector pay review bodies in December 2025 repeated that awards had to be funded within existing departmental budgets with no extra money available, and the July 2026 remit letter for 2027/28 says the same.

The main tension: evidence on recruitment and retention can push the PSPRB upwards; a fixed departmental budget pushes the other way. In 2026 the PSPRB put the cost of its 3.5% headline award at about £59.9 million (excluding progression and the NLW), roughly 1% of HMPPS's £7.5 billion 2024/25 operating expenditure.

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  • Every Band 2 to 5 rate: each pay point, 37, 39 and 41 hours, national, outer and inner London, with and without the unsocial hours allowance
  • Bands 7 to 12 ranges, Payment Plus at £23 an hour, Band 2 overtime rates and the alpha pension contribution bands
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The yearly cycle: remit letter to payslip

In shortThe cycle runs from a Ministry of Justice remit letter to payslip, and in 2026 the award reached June salaries backdated to 1 April.

The round starts when the Ministry of Justice sends the PSPRB a remit letter asking it to report. For 2027/28 the letter is dated 15 July 2026, from the Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending to the PSPRB Chair.

It says pay must be funded from departmental budgets with no additional funding, asks for a report at the earliest point possible, and states no restrictions on what the PSPRB can recommend.

  1. Remit letter from the Ministry of Justice starts the pay round (2027/28 round: 15 July 2026).
  2. HMPPS, the Treasury, the POA, PCS and others submit written evidence; unions give oral evidence.
  3. PSPRB holds discussion groups and considers labour market, recruitment, retention, morale and affordability.
  4. PSPRB submits its report to the Prime Minister and the Justice Secretary (2026 report: submitted late February 2026).
  5. Government publishes the report with its response (2026: 26 March 2026; accepted in full).
  6. HMPPS implements through payroll, with back pay to the effective date (2026: June salaries, backdated to 1 April, as reported by the POA).

Publication and payment in 2026

The report was published on 26 March 2026 with Government's response in a Written Ministerial Statement the same day.

We could not open the statement itself on 3 October 2026 (the Parliament page returned an access error), but the Ministry's July remit letter says the Government accepted all recommendations for 2026/27, 'an increase of at least 3.5% for all operational prison staff'.

The POA's April circular quotes HMPPS saying payroll provider capacity meant the award would be implemented in June salaries, backdated to 1 April. See back pay explained for what that means on a payslip.

Evidence in the 2026 round

The POA's written pay submission arrived at the end of September 2025 and its oral evidence was on 13 November 2025. The PSPRB also held discussion groups with staff (one with Band 12 staff, one with ORRU staff and two with PEIs).

Its report was submitted to Government in late February 2026, a delay it blamed partly on HMPPS evidence arriving a month late.

HMPPS submitted written evidence proposing 2.5% for most staff (3.0% for Band 2 including 0.1% for the NLW); the POA asked for 6.3%, or a restructure to spot rates with Band 3 at £41,700 including 20% unsocial hours allowance; PCS asked for 10% for Band 2.

Do Ministers have to accept it? What happens when they do not

In shortNo: the recommendations are advice, and while most recent reports were accepted in full, the Government has cut parts of some.

No. The recommendations are advice. In practice Governments of recent years have accepted most PSPRB reports in full, and the 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 awards were all accepted (the 2025 report was submitted on 9 April 2025, accepted in a statement of 22 May 2025, and implemented in summer 2025 backdated to 1 April).

But the PSPRB's own history of awards shows departures, set out below. Timing is another real constraint: because the report and response come in spring or summer, the award is usually paid late and backdated.

When recent awards were paid

  1. 2023Autumn, backdated to 1 April

    According to a search summary of the Government statement of 13 July 2023.

  2. 2025Summer

    Backdated to 1 April.

  3. 2026June salaries

    Backdated to 1 April.

Where the Government departed from advice

2018

  • The PSPRB recommended 2.75% overall (5.25% for Band 3 and 3.5% for Band 4).
  • The Government rejected that and paid 2.0% consolidated plus 0.75% non-consolidated.

2022

  • The PSPRB recommended 5% for Band 12.
  • The Government reduced that to 3%.

The union view

In July 2024, when the Government accepted a 5% award, the POA welcomed it but said members had endured 14 years of dwindling living standards, and said it would 'much rather have collective bargaining on pay' than annual review cycles.

That is a union statement, not a finding; we cite it to show the debate. The money is arrears, not lost, but it affects cash flow and tax in the month it lands. The full history by year is in our pay award history.

What the PSPRB does not decide

In shortPensions, retirement age and who is in its remit are outside the PSPRB's gift, and it does not set every term and condition.

The PSPRB's report is explicit about its limits in two places, shown below. See our guide to prison officer pension age for what the scheme rules say.

Two requests the PSPRB said it could not grant

Band 2 OSGs and bargaining

  • The POA asked that Band 2 OSGs be removed from its remit and returned to collective bargaining (the POA says OSGs have the right to take all forms of industrial action).
  • The PSPRB replied that it is not within its gift to decide who is in its remit; that would be for the Government after talking to the unions.

Pension age of 60

  • The POA asked for the PSPRB's endorsement that the pension age for prison officers be 60.
  • It said decisions on retirement age and pensions are outside its remit, and suggested the POA and Government discuss it.
PSPRB rolling review of allowances (as published in the 2026 report)
Allowance or paymentNext scheduled review
Payment Plus; Unsocial Working Hours (Fair and Sustainable); Care and Maintenance of Dogs2027 Report
Band 2 OSG overtime2028 Report
Operation Tornado payments; dirty protest allowance2029 Report
ORRU on-call allowance2030 Report
Fair and Sustainable on-call payments2031 Report

Source: PSPRB 25th Report, Appendix H, as summarised in our research dossier. Reviews can be brought forward if a party submits compelling evidence.

Terms it does not set

Annual leave, sick pay, shift patterns, vetting and the 37, 39 and 41 hour contract rules come from HMPPS policy and employment terms. The PSPRB comments where they affect pay, for example contract hours and sickness absence, which averaged 13.2 working days lost per operational staff member in the year to 30 September 2025.

Payment Plus is within its remit, and in 2026 the PSPRB said it would do a full review once HMPPS finishes its own review.

The five-year allowance cycle

The PSPRB reviews allowances on a five-year rolling cycle. Those with a compensatory element, such as the Care and Maintenance of Dogs allowance, rise each year with the Band 3 headline; others are reviewed on schedule (for example Payment Plus, unsocial hours and the dogs allowance in the 2027 Report, and ORRU on-call in 2030).

Our guide to specialist prison roles and pay goes through those allowances.

2026/27 in the PSPRB's own words, and what it said about strikes and the labour market

In shortThe PSPRB called 3.5% 'appropriate and justifiable' while describing fragile retention and a workforce that mostly cannot strike.

  • 2026/27 headline3.5%'Appropriate and justifiable'
  • Leavers inside 24 monthsManyRetention described as fragile
  • Cannot take industrial actionMajorityOf the remit group

The 2026 report notes recruitment still relies on overseas applicants and changes to Skilled Worker visa rules, retention is fragile with many leavers inside 24 months, and morale is mixed.

It also recognises that changes to employment legislation will reduce barriers to industrial action for other groups of workers, while the majority of its remit group cannot take any form of industrial action.

For context, HMPPS workforce statistics to 30 June 2026 (published 20 August 2026) show 22,001 FTE Band 3 to 5 officers, down 701 over the year, with an officer resignation rate of 5.6% and 2,116 appointments against 2,095 leavers in the 12 months.

Those are the sort of figures the PSPRB weighs under 'recruitment and retention'.

Free toolPay vs inflation toolSee how each award compares with ONS prices and test what the 2027 round would need to deliver.Open the pay vs inflation tool

The 2027/28 round and how to follow it

In shortThe 2027/28 round began on 15 July 2026, but as at 3 October 2026 we found no published timetable or 2027 evidence.

  • Round started15 July 2026Ministry of Justice remit letter
  • TimetableNot publishedAs at 3 October 2026
  • PSPRB hopeApril 2027 payIf Government evidence arrives on time

The PSPRB said in March it hoped Government evidence would arrive on time so staff could receive the 2027 award in April 2027 pay; the 2026 timetable slipped because HMPPS evidence arrived a month late.

The July letter says the Ministry will aim to meet PSPRB deadlines and bring the evidence process forward, and explore joint evidence with unions where feasible.

We found no 2027 evidence from HMPPS or the unions. The PSPRB also invited the POA to discuss a two-year deal with HMPPS and other unions before the remit letter; we could not find the outcome.

  • Payment Plus: a full review once HMPPS completes its own
  • Unsocial hours payments for Bands 2 to 5 and 7 to 11
  • The Care and Maintenance of Dogs allowance and the PEI payment
  • Results of HMPPS reviews on night working and on escort and bedwatch duties

How to follow it

  • We track what is published on the living pay rise page and explain the latest on 2027/28.
  • Dated items are posted in news.
  • To model scenarios, the Pay Planner lets you test different award sizes against your own band, hours and location.
Paid toolPay PlannerModel your pay under different award scenarios and see the effect on take-home pay.See the Pay Planner

Frequently asked questions

What does PSPRB stand for?

PSPRB stands for the Prison Service Pay Review Body. It is the independent body that recommends pay and allowances for operational prison staff in England and Wales and in Northern Ireland. It was established under statute in 2001 and is sponsored by the Ministry of Justice. The Scottish Prison Service is outside its remit.

Does the PSPRB set my pay?

It recommends; the Government decides. Its 2026 recommendations, including a 3.5% rise from 1 April 2026, were accepted in full, which is why the pay tables changed. The PSPRB's recommendations are not legally binding, though the Government has pledged to depart from them only in exceptional circumstances.

Why can't prison officers just negotiate pay with a union?

Because most prison staff cannot lawfully take industrial action under section 127 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, so the PSPRB was created as a substitute. The POA says it would prefer collective bargaining. Band 2 OSGs are treated differently; the POA says they can take industrial action.

Has the Government ever rejected PSPRB advice?

Parts, yes. In 2018 the PSPRB recommended 2.75% (5.25% for Band 3) and the Government paid 2.0% consolidated plus 0.75% non-consolidated. In 2022 it cut a recommended 5% for Band 12 to 3%. Most other recent awards, including 2023 to 2026, were accepted in full.

When will the 2027/28 award be announced?

Not yet known. The round started with a remit letter on 15 July 2026, but we found no published timetable as at 3 October 2026. The PSPRB hopes for an award in April 2027 pay but says that depends on evidence arriving on time. We update the living pay rise page when sources appear.

Is the PSPRB the same as the police pay review body?

No. The Police Remuneration Review Body covers police officers. The PSPRB covers prison staff. Both are among the pay review bodies supported by the Office for the Pay Review Bodies and both advise on pay where there is no right to strike, but they have different remits and evidence.

Does the PSPRB cover private prisons or Scotland?

No. Private-sector custody officers are employed by contractors, and the Scottish Prison Service sets its own pay. Northern Ireland is covered by the PSPRB, but the NI Justice Minister decides when to respond to the NI report, so the NI timeline is separate from England and Wales.

Sources