JUSTICE Secretary Liz Truss and prison service head Michael Spurr should be sacked for incompetence following the latest damning government statistics on understaffing, the Prison Officers Association said yesterday.

Front-line prison officer numbers fell by more than 300 last year, official figures show, triggering fresh scrutiny of staffing levels as jails tackle a safety crisis.

Latest statistics from the National Offender Management Service (Noms) reveal a loss of 366 staff, many of them experienced officers, last year and 133 over the last quarter.