Skip to content

Complaint investigation summaries

Read summaries of upheld and partially upheld investigations into complaints on this page. We keep information brief to protect the identities of people involved and we may decide not to publish a summary if the person making the complaint might be identified from it. Please visit our archive site to view complaint summaries published before February 2024.

Every month we publish statistics about the number of investigations we have completed and our decision for each one.

Use the search box below to search complaints by prison name or location.

Filters

266 complaints summaries

Upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Lincoln

Complaint category:
Adjudication & IEP
Status:
Upheld
Month investigation completed:
June
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained about four adjudication charges which were heard together. When he appealed one of these charges, one was quashed on the basis that the damage caused was in the context of an act of self-harm and he should not be punished for that. We found that a similar approach should have been taken in the appeal as the damage was again caused in the same act of self-harm.
Recommendations/outcome:
We asked that the adjudication be quashed.

Upheld complaint against the Governor at HMP Wymott

Complaint category:
Property
Status:
Upheld
Month investigation completed:
June
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained that his property went missing when he was transferred from HMP Wymott to HMP Haverigg. The prisoner’s property had not been checked before leaving the establishment.
Recommendations/outcome:
The Investigator proposed a mediated settlement which was rejected by the prison so we made a formal recommendation that the prisoner receive an apology, compensation and new copies of the education certificates which had gone missing. We hold the view that this complaint should have been resolved by the prison without reference to IPCI.

Upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Berwyn and HMP Risley

Complaint category:
Property
Status:
Upheld
Month investigation completed:
June
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained that some bags of property had been lost following his transfer from HMP Berwyn to HMP Risley. The IPCI investigation found that both prisons had failed to maintain accurate records: Berwyn did not retain evidence of the courier, and Risley did not update the prisoner property cards when he was transferred there.
Recommendations/outcome:
We asked that the prisoner be compensated for his missing property. This was split between HMP Berwyn and HMP Risley. We hold the view that this complaint should have been resolved by the prison without reference to IPCI.

Partially upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Highpoint

Complaint category:
Staff behaviour
Status:
Partially upheld
Month investigation completed:
June
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained that despite being on an open Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) report, he had been left with medication in his possession which resulted in his hospitalisation and it had happened a second time once discharged from hospital.
Recommendations/outcome:
The prison agreed to speak to the staff concerned to ensure they are aware of the need to ensure prisoners at risk are not left with medication in their possession.

Partially upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Stocken

Complaint category:
Staff behaviour
Status:
Partially upheld
Month investigation completed:
June
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained about the behaviour of an officer in HMP Stocken. The IPCI investigation found the prisons investigation into the complaint was incomplete and inadequate. Further to this our requests for access to audio footage of the incident were frustrated.
Recommendations/outcome:
IPCI partially upheld this complaint due to the prisons failure to provide IPCI with evidence to assess the incident.

Upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Birmingham

Complaint category:
Property
Status:
Upheld
Month investigation completed:
May
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained that some of their property had been lost by HMP Birmingham on transfer. The IPCI investigation established although a PER had been completed, it had no detail of any bags transferred or the seal numbers, therefore it was impossible to establish what had been transferred or what had been lost.
Recommendations/outcome:
We recommended that the prisoner receive compensation based on what he reasonably had in possession prior to the transfer and which was not subsequently listed as arriving at the new establishment.

Upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP North Sea Camp

Complaint category:
Categorisation, progression & release preparation
Status:
Upheld
Month investigation completed:
May
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained about the delays to the completion of his application for ROTL. The investigation established that the community offender manager had not completed the required contribution within the four-week window, and this was because the case had been reallocated and overlooked.
Recommendations/outcome:
The relevant community manager accepted responsibility for staff failings, and to address the issue with the relevant member of staff. During the course of the investigation a successful ROTL application was completed.

Partially Upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Whatton

Complaint category:
Administration
Status:
Partially upheld
Month investigation completed:
May
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained about a delay to a response relating to published servery times. Our investigation established that during the period of his complaint the complaints clerk had left the service which had resulted in some disruptions to complaint handling.
Recommendations/outcome:
We are satisfied that following changes to staffing, there are now robust complaints handling processes in place.

Upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Lincoln

Complaint category:
Property
Status:
Upheld
Month investigation completed:
May
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained that his property had been lost by HMP Lincoln. During the course of the IPCI investigation the prison accepted they had not completed the correct cell clearance process and offered compensation for the items the prisoner lost.
Recommendations/outcome:
We agreed that the compensation offered accurately reflected a reasonable cost for replacement of the items.

Upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Featherstone

Complaint category:
Property
Status:
Upheld
Month investigation completed:
May
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained that his property had been lost by HMP Featherstone on transfer to Stoke Heath. The IPCI investigation established that his property was not listed on the PER, and instead been sent on to his new establishment by courier. There was no evidence of what had been sent on or any other way to establish what had been sent or arrived.
Recommendations/outcome:
We recommended that the prisoner receive compensation based on what he reasonably had in possession prior to the transfer and which was not subsequently listed as arriving at the new establishment.