Ms Caron McCaffrey:

It is having an impact. Our security posts are the ones that we must man first. Regrettably, some ancillary services can be hit with closures. On top of the vacancies, we have mentioned the number of escorts that the Prison Service is required to conduct annually. We sought the value for money review, which has recently been completed, because we were significantly concerned about the draw of prison officers from our prisons to assist in escorting. We have a Prison Service escorts corps, PSEC, but it is not staffed sufficiently to deal with what has been an exponential increase in the requirements placed on it.