System error hits prison staff pay
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A multi-million-pound computer system introduced to handle Prison Service pay has caused chaos, with thousands of staff failing to receive overtime or their correct salaries.
The entire staff, from governors to prison officers and orderlies, has been affected. Some have taken out bank loans to cover the shortfall. Others have been waiting for overtime payments, which make up an important part of many prison pay packages. Some staff have been advised to apply for emergency funds through local Prison Service offices to tide them over.
The errors have become so acute that the Home Office plans to introduce an emergency action plan to make sure staff get paid.
The problems began in July after CMG Admiral won a multi-million Home Office contract to run the software in a public-private partnership scheme, with the Home Office in charge of the hardware. The new Payfact Enterprise system was designed to automate all the salary payments to 68,000 staff in the Prison Service.
Serious errors in its operation led to the recent replacement of the management in October and November, but this failed to end the chaos.
"Basically we have been told to go to our local payroll staff to tide us over," said employee. "It's not just the prisoners who are angry this Christmas, it's the staff.
"It's not as if these are unstressful jobs. We are looking after some pretty dangerous people ... not to be paid for it, particularly at this time of year, is awful."
A Home Office spokeswoman said that "initial problems" had been encountered with the system. "Part of it was the software but there were a number of different things. We believe that every employee has eventually received their full pay."
Humfrey Malins, the Tories' home affairs spokesman, called the pay problems "an insult to hard-working prison staff".
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments