Burnham urged to intervene over ‘zero-hours’ custody officers in private prison

Exclusive: Prison officers’ union strongly opposes HMP Millsike offering flexible work escorting prisoners amid staff shortages

Andy Burnham is under pressure to intervene in a privately run prison that is seeking to recruit custody officers on zero-hours contracts for the first time across England and Wales’ prison estate.

Managers at HMP Millsike, a category C prison for 1,500 prisoners near York operated by the outsourcing company Mitie, have signed off online adverts for £25-an-hour prisoner escort roles “on a flexible, task-based basis”.