Guidance

Prison service orders (PSOs)

Policy and guidance for prison and probation professionals in England and Wales.

Applies to England and Wales

Index and notes

This page lists all current prison service orders (PSOs). From 2010, new prison operational policies were issued as prison service instructions (PSIs).

If the PSO you want is not listed here, check the PSO index. This document lists every PSO issued and includes details of those which have been cancelled, updated or replaced by a PSI or policy framework. The index also includes the most up-to-date contact details for the owner of each PSO.

A PSO remains in force until it is formally cancelled, even if the document has passed its expiry date.

Some PSOs are not published here because they are restricted or sensitive. HR and other staff-related PSOs are not published here but are available on departmental intranets.

If you have any questions about the contents on this page or would like an electronic copy of a cancelled policy, please , email ops3@justice.gov.uk.

Probation Instructions

Policy frameworks

Prison service orders index

Prison service orders

Number Title
9050 Functional mailboxes (MS Word)
9030 Handling and approval of requests for IT (MS Word)
8525 Enabling agreement on change proposals and resolving disputes (MS Word)
6300 Release on temporary licence (ROTL) from young offender institutions (YOIs) (MS Word)
6101 Providing bail information for prisoners on remand (PDF)
5901 Maintaining prison buildings
5400 Prison transport manual
4960 Managing young people convicted of serious crimes (MS Word)
4625 Producing prisoners at court for civil proceedings
4600 Treatment of unconvicted, unsentenced and civil prisoners
4480 Prisoner representative associations
4460 Paying prisoners for work and other activities
4455 Handling requests from prisoners to change their name
3805 Zoonotic infections
3802 Management of inadvertent exposure to asbestos (MS Word)
3800 Food Safety Act 1990: agricutural business enterprise (PDF)
3625 Testing of external drug workers (MS Word)
3601 Mandatory drug testing
3550 Treating prisoners for substance misuse
3200 Promoting healthy behaviours in prison (MS Word)
3100 Ensuring clinical governance in prison healthcare
3050 Ensuring continuity of healthcare for prisoners
2600 Legal issues relating to prisoners
2400 Democratic therapeutic communities for prisoners
1700 Management of segration units
1600 Use of force in prisons
1310 Preventing fraud
1300 Investigations (MS Word)
1025 Sharing risks and information about a prisoner escort or transfer
160 Hosting magistrates’ training visits (MS word)
101 Changes to young offender institution rules (MS Word)

Some older prison service instructions have been archived by The National Archives and are made available here through the UK Government Web Archive.

Published 16 December 2020
Last updated 11 March 2024 + show all updates
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