Upheld complaint against the Director of HMP Rye Hill
Complaint category:
Visits, calls & letters
Month investigation completed:
March
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained that staff at HMP Rye Hill were looking at the contents of their Rule 39 / confidential access correspondence, before allowing them to be sealed. Our investigation found that Rye Hill understood confidential access requirements, but accepted some of their newer staff may not have been aware of the correct process.
Recommendations/outcome:
We upheld the complaint and Rye Hill issued a notice to staff, reminding them that prisoners may hand in Rule 39 / confidential access correspondence sealed.
Upheld complaint against the Director of HMP Lowdham Grange
Complaint category:
Property
Month investigation completed:
March
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained that some of their property had been destroyed without their permission, after a fire in their cell. Lowdham Grange agreed that there was no local policy for the destruction of property after a fire and that no records had been kept.
Recommendations/outcome:
The prison offered the prisoner £300 for his loss and this was accepted.
Upheld complaint against the Director of HMP Doncaster
Complaint category:
Property
Month investigation completed:
March
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained that after staff cleared his cell at HMP Doncaster, most of his property went missing.
Recommendations/outcome:
HMP Doncaster accepted responsibility for the loss and compensated the prisoner. We hold the view that this complaint should have been resolved by the prison without reference to IPCI.
Partially upheld complaint against the Director of HMP Altcourse
Complaint category:
Property
Month investigation completed:
March
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained that some of their property had been lost by HMP Altcourse after they transferred to HMP Berwyn. Altcourse had not accepted the complaint for investigation, as it was slightly out of time. But our investigation found that this was as a result of Berwyn advising the prisoner to allow time for his property to arrive.
Recommendations/outcome:
We partially upheld the complaint as we felt that Altcourse should have exercised discretion and accepted the complaint for investigation.
Upheld complaint against the Governor at HMP Wymott
Complaint category:
Administration
Month investigation completed:
February
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained about the way in which his complaint about his broken bed had been handled.
Recommendations/outcome:
IPCI found some administrative errors with the handling of this complaint. Following our engagement, the bed was fixed, and staff explained the delays to the prisoner. We hold the view that this complaint should have been resolved by the prison without reference to IPCI.
Upheld complaint against the Governor at HMP Bullingdon
Complaint category:
Administration
Month investigation completed:
February
Year investigation completed:
2024
A prisoner believed staff had not adequately investigated his complaints about staff making malicious entries on NOMIS.
Recommendations/outcome:
The prison agreed to bring our concerns about the inadequate investigation to the investigating officer’s attention and to issue the prisoner with a formal apology for these failings. They also agreed to review the negative NOMIS entries that were made.
Upheld complaint against the Governor in HMP Nottingham
Complaint category:
Property
Month investigation completed:
February
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained he was unable to wear funeral clothing to his mother’s funeral despite having prior authorisation to do so.
Recommendations/outcome:
We upheld the complaint, however we did not make any recommendations as the prison had already offered an apology, an explanation for the error on the day of the funeral and reimbursement to the prisoner’s family for the cost of delivering the clothing to the prison.
Upheld against the Governor in HMP Nottingham
Complaint category:
Prison behaviour
Month investigation completed:
February
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained he had been assaulted by another prisoner and staff at Nottingham had failed to provide adequate support to him and failed to sanction the perpetrator.
Recommendations/outcome:
We upheld the complaint and recommended that the Governor apologise for failing to adequately support the prisoner. We recommended the Governor ensures staff receive appropriate training in the implementation of Nottingham’s Safer Custody policy and the Prison Service Instructions for Managing Prisoners Safety and Investigation Learning Following Incidents of Serious Self-harm and Assaults. We also recommended that the Governor issue a notice to staff, including healthcare staff, to remind them to make appropriate detailed entries in prisoners’ NOMIS case notes showing how victims of assault have been supported and when prisoners have been the perpetrators of violence. We recommended that NOMIS case notes should be regularly spot checked and quality assured by Nottingham’s SMT.
Upheld complaint against the Governor in HMP Stocken
Complaint category:
Property
Month investigation completed:
February
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained about property lost when he moved from HMP Stocken to HMP Long Lartin.
Recommendations/outcome:
We upheld the complaint and recommended that the Governor pay compensation and remind staff of national policy around cell clearance and completion of property cards.
Upheld complaint against the Governors in HMP Stocken and HMP Sudbury
Complaint category:
Administration
Month investigation completed:
February
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained about an inaccurate entry made in his NOMIS record in September 2021.
Recommendations/outcome:
We upheld the complaint and recommended that the Governors in HMP Stocken and HMP Sudbury review the entry made and arrange for the necessary change to be made. We hold the view that this complaint should have been resolved by the prison without reference to IPCI.
