Michael Spurr, CB (born 20 September 1961) was the Chief Executive of HM Prison and Probation Service 2010–2019.
[2] At the time of graduating from University, he was running a youth club, and following the suggestion of his careers advisor to look at the prison service, he felt that becoming a borstal house master would be a good idea, and so signed up.
A new procedure for the Chief Inspector to send an urgent notification of severe problems to the Secretary of State was introduced in November 2017, and was used 4 times in a year.
Against this background, in 2018 Spurr was told to step down by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Richard Heaton, who said he felt a new direction was needed.
A former Lord Chancellor commented: "Michael Spurr is a terrific impressive decent public servant who has given his working life to prison and probation, and has been dealt as shitty a hand by the government as it is possible to deal".