Partially upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Hewell
Complaint category:
Property
Month investigation completed:
October
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained about the adequacy of the level of compensation he had been offered following a loss of property during a prison transfer.
The IPCI investigation established that compensation offer was reasonable, but the prison had failed to provide the agreed compensation for a high value item.
Recommendations/outcome:
The prison compensated for the high value item as agreed. We feel this complaint could have been resolved without referral to IPCI.
Partially upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Wormwood Scrubs
Complaint category:
Property
Month investigation completed:
October
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained that a number of items had gone missing from his cell following transfer between prisons. The IPCI investigation established that no cell clearance certificate was completed.
Recommendations/outcome:
The prison agreed to give him compensation for consumables that might have been in the cell.
Upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Woodhill and HMP Whitemoor
Complaint category:
Property
Month investigation completed:
October
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained that a large number of DVDs had gone missing, as he transferred between HMP Woodhill and HMP Whitemoor. The IPCI investigator asked HMP Whitemoor to conduct an audit of the prisoner's IP (In Possession) property to provide evidence of what the prisoner had against what he had purchased. We received no confirmation this had been done.
Recommendations/outcome:
We upheld the complaint and recommended the governors of both prisons contribute to paying compensation and remind staff to provide information to IPCI as requested, and properly record items held IP. We feel this complaint could have been resolved without referral to IPCI and should not have necessitated a formal recommendation.
Partially upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP The Verne
Complaint category:
Property
Month investigation completed:
October
Year investigation completed:
2024
A prisoner complained that valuable items had gone missing as he transferred between 3 prisons. The IPCI investigation established this was a complex matter, which was further exacerbated by the prisons involved not taking a proactive approach in solving the complaint.
Recommendations/outcome:
We partially upheld the complaint and recommended the governor remind staff that the policy framework encourages staff to adopt a proactive approach to liaising with other prisons to resolve complaints. The other two prisons accepted this criticism and took steps to informally resolve this, however HMP The Verne did not accept they could have done more. We feel this complaint could have been resolved without referral to IPCI and should not have necessitated a formal recommendation.
Partially upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Full Sutton
Complaint category:
Visits, calls & letters
Month investigation completed:
October
Year investigation completed:
2024
A prisoner complained about significant delays to the delivery of his legal mail. The IPCI investigation established that whilst the delays weren’t specifically lengthy, there had been some problems with the delivery of this prisoner's letters, including confusion around what was withheld.
Recommendations/outcome:
We recommended the prison apologise for the delays and tighten arrangements around monitoring withheld R39 mail.
Partially upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Ranby
Complaint category:
Staff behaviour
Month investigation completed:
October
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained that disproportionate force was used against them. During the course of the IPCI investigation, we discovered that BWVC footage was missing, and that CCTV wing footage had not been retained, we were therefore unable to fully ascertain the events that occurred.
Recommendations/outcome:
We recommended that the Use of Force committee revisit the importance of using BWVC during a Use of Force incident and cascade this to staff in a Use of Force refresher training. We also recommended that HMP Ranby take steps to retain CCTV footage wherein an incident has been recorded for a period of 12 months. The recommendations were accepted by HMP Ranby.
Upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP The Mount
Complaint category:
Property
Month investigation completed:
October
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained that HMP The Mount destroyed his liquid toiletries which arrived in his follow-on property. The prison said that this was their policy and was for security reasons.
Recommendations/outcome:
We upheld the complaint on the grounds that the prison should not be uniformly destroying property. We recommended that HMP The Mount offered the complainant compensation for the destroyed toiletries, and that the prison changes its policy so that prisoners who transfer in are given the opportunity to post toiletries out or hand them out on a visit.
Upheld complaint against the Director of HMP Long Lartin
Complaint category:
Adjudication & IEP
Month investigation completed:
October
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained that he had been denied legal representation for an adjudication. The IPCI investigation found paperwork to confirm he had requested this. In addition, there was nothing on the record of hearing to show the adjudicator properly considered this request.
Recommendations/outcome:
We found that the finding was unsafe and asked that the adjudication be quashed. We feel this complaint could have been resolved without referral to IPCI.
Upheld complaint against the Director of HMP Dovegate
Complaint category:
Adjudication & IEP
Month investigation completed:
October
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained about an adjudication process where he had not been given the opportunity to seek legal advice.
The IPCI investigation found that the paperwork was unclear and did not show that he was given the opportunity to seek legal advice. In addition, several text boxes during the preliminary stage of the adjudication were not completed.
Recommendations/outcome:
We found that the finding was unsafe and asked that the adjudication be quashed. We feel this complaint could have been resolved without referral to IPCI.
Upheld complaint against the Governor at HMP Wakefield
Complaint category:
Adjudication & IEP
Month investigation completed:
September
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained that the prison had not followed policy when issuing him with a behaviour warning and that the punishment he received was disproportionate. The prison acknowledged that the relevant paperwork had gone astray, but that procedures had been changed to address this, and the warning was rescinded.
Recommendations/outcome:
We made no recommendations in this case because the prison had addressed the issue of the IEP paperwork and rescinded the warning. However, we did point out that the matter could have been dealt with by the prison rather than coming to IPCI. We feel this complaint could have been resolved without referral to IPCI.
