PSOs still in force

Prison Service Orders (PSOs) are long-term mandatory instructions for prisons in England and Wales. Since 2010, new operational policy has been issued as Prison Service Instructions (PSIs) instead, and since 2019 as Policy Frameworks – but PSOs remain in force until they are formally cancelled.

This list has been refreshed and now shows only the PSOs that HM Prison and Probation Service still lists as current on its official guidance pages. PSOs that have since been cancelled, replaced or made obsolete have been removed. Each entry links directly to the official document (either on GOV.UK or via the UK Government Web Archive), and shows a short description of what it covers.

9050 – Functional mailboxes — IT mailboxes 9030 – Handling and approval of requests for IT — IT requests
8525 – Enabling agreement on change proposals and resolving disputes — POA disputes 6101 – Providing bail information for prisoners on remand — Bail information
5901 – Maintaining prison buildings — Building maintenance 5400 – Prison transport manual — Prisoner transport
4960 – Managing young people convicted of serious crimes — Serious crime detention 4625 – Producing prisoners at court for civil proceedings — Civil court appearances
4600 – Treatment of unconvicted, unsentenced and civil prisoners — Remand prisoners 4480 – Prisoner representative associations — Prisoner associations
4460 – Paying prisoners for work and other activities — Prisoner pay 4455 – Handling requests from prisoners to change their name — Name changes
3805 – Zoonotic infections — Animal-borne infections 3802 – Management of inadvertent exposure to asbestos — Asbestos exposure
3800 – Food Safety Act 1990: agricultural business enterprise — Prison farms food safety 3625 – Testing of external drug workers — Drug worker testing
3601 – Mandatory drug testing — Drug testing 3550 – Treating prisoners for substance misuse — Substance misuse treatment
3200 – Promoting healthy behaviours in prison — Health promotion 3100 – Ensuring clinical governance in prison healthcare — Clinical governance
3050 – Ensuring continuity of healthcare for prisoners — Healthcare continuity 2600 – Legal issues relating to prisoners — Prisoners’ legal issues
2400 – Democratic therapeutic communities for prisoners — Therapeutic communities 1700 – Management of segregation units — Segregation units
1600 – Use of force in prisons — Use of force 1310 – Preventing fraud — Fraud prevention
1300 – Investigations — Investigations 1025 – Sharing risks and information about a prisoner escort or transfer — Escort risk information
0160 – Hosting magistrates’ training visits — Magistrates’ visits 0101 – Changes to young offender institution rules — YOI rules

Source: HMPPS – Prison Service Orders (PSOs) on GOV.UK. If a PSO you are looking for is not listed here, it may have been cancelled – the full PSO index shows the status of every PSO ever issued.

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