All change at the top of the Prison Service

As well as there being a new Justice Secretary in David Lammy, there are now new officials in the top civil service posts at both HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and the Ministry of Justice.

Senior civil servant James McEwen (pictured) has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of HMPPS, responsible for the running of jails in England and Wales. He has worked at the Ministry of Justice since 2016, in roles including Group Finance Director and Chief Operating Officer. He previously worked in other Whitehall departments including the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Unlike his two direct predecessors, Amy Rees and Phil Copple, Mr McEwen did not start his career in prisons. Since the Ministry of Justice was formed in 2007, three out of six of the heads of HMPPS have been people who began their working life as prison officers.

Ms Rees, who served as Director General Chief Executive of HMPPS from 2022 to 2025 before a stint as Interim Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice, has now moved out of the justice system and taken up the post of Chief Executive of Homes England.

When Ms Rees left her HMPPS position it was filled on an interim basis by Mr Copple, a former governor of Deerbolt and Frankland prisons, and a Prison Service official for 19 years. He has now also left the Prison Service.

Dr Jo Farrar, who was Chief Executive Officer of HMPPS from 2019 to 2022, was appointed in July as Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice – the department’s most senior civil servant, and filling the role that Ms Rees held on an interim basis.

President of the Prison Governors Association Tom Wheatley told Inside Time that it could be a good thing that neither the head of the MoJ nor the head of HMPPS has ever worked in a prison.

He said: “We have spoken with Dr Farrar, who we know understands the problems we face within the service and the need for proper planning, and funding. James has been within the department for some time and knows it very well, and certainly understands our finances, or lack of finances, as the Government always want to introduce new concepts without providing adequate funds.

“I think that given James has had experience across the Civil Service and is not considered an ‘insider’, concerns he expresses will be given a priority as they cannot be thought to be from someone tied to the existing system. We look forward to seeing progress at this crucial time with the changes from the Gauke review to come.”