Hundreds of foreign prison staff who could have faced deportation and the sack have been offered an emergency extension to their visa in order to stop the prison system collapsing, Sky News understands.
Changes to visa rules made in July had meant thousands of prison staff, many from Nigeria, had faced deportation once their visa expired.
Following lobbying from the prisons minister, Lord Timpson, and conversations with the Home Secretary and former justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, an agreement has been reached to temporarily extend some of them by a year.
Sources suggest Mahmood had previously been reluctant to make the exemption as part of her drive to reduce net migration.
It’s thought around 2,500 people would have been impacted, with many in front-facing prison officer roles. This change will mean hundreds of them can be exempt for 12 months.
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Changes introduced over the summer raised the threshold for a skilled worker visa to £41,700 a year. The average threshold for most new prison officer recruits, outside of London, is around £33,000.
The extension could benefit some public sector prisons, which had been hiring foreign workers because of shortages of British applications.
Staff from West Africa, mostly Nigeria, make up the majority of prison officer recruits, after British nationals.
The temporary exemptions also apply to dependents already in the UK and will offer temporary relief.
The Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, had previously warned of a “devastating effect” if a solution had not been found.
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Changes come at a time of crisis for the prison service, with increased violence against staff and embarrassing episodes of mistaken prisoner releases.
A government spokesperson said: “Net migration has already fallen by more than two-thirds under this government. We are clear numbers must fall further as we create a migration system that is controlled and fair.
“However, public safety is the first duty of any government and we must ensure jails can continue to run safely with the right level of experienced staff. This is vital given the prison capacity crisis we inherited.”
