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”. Mitie has submitted a proposal to the Prison Service to employ people on a zero-hours contract which is “under consideration”, a government official confirmed on Monday night. The £400m prison has about 350 empty cells because of a shortfall of staff, prison sources have confirmed. The POA, the prison officers’ union, has called on the prime minister to intervene in keeping with the government’s pledge to curb zero-hours contracts that undermine workers’ rights, security and stability. Burnham has faced mounting pressure over the government’s early prisoner release scheme aimed at freeing up capacity, after it was reveale