Partially upheld complaint against the Director of HMP Five Wells
Complaint category:
Staff behaviour
Month investigation completed:
August
Year investigation completed:
2025
The prisoner complained that he was assaulted by an officer at HMP Five Wells in March 2025. IPCI found no evidence that an assault took place. However, IPCI found that staff failed to follow the mandatory procedures regarding complaint investigation in the alleged circumstances and failed to offer support to the complainant regarding the alleged assault.
Recommendations/outcome:
IPCI recommended a personal remedy in the form of the prison apologising to the prisoner for the mishandling of his complaint, and that staff explore local support options for him in light of the allegations. IPCI also made formal recommendations that a thorough investigation of the complainant’s allegations takes place, that the Director ensures local complaint procedures are robust and that the Director assures himself that staff understand mandatory recording and retention practices for serious allegations, and consideration should be given to the suitability of trauma-informed approaches and victim support protocols. We further recommended that the Director satisfies himself of staff awareness of responsibilities during rub-down searches, and that oversight of CCTV use should be robust and appropriate.
Partially upheld complaint against the Director of HMP Northumberland
Complaint category:
Administration
Month investigation completed:
July
Year investigation completed:
2025
The prisoner complained about the failure of unit staff to regularly unlock prisoners for overtime during the weekend at HMP Northumberland. IPCI found no evidence that staff failed to unlock prisoners regularly. IPCI upheld part of the complaint concerning the initial complaint responses. The response suggested that the prisoner was “wasting resources on the complaints avenue”, which is inconsistent with the Prisoner Complaints Policy which states that prisoner should not be deterred from submitting complaints.
Recommendations/outcome:
IPCI advised that the Director of HMP Northumberland considered whether remedial action should be pursued, taking account of the sections of the framework which deal with evidence-based practice, problem solving and sufficient quality assurance of replies.
Upheld complaint against the Director of HMP Fosse Way
Complaint category:
Staff behaviour
Month investigation completed:
July
Year investigation completed:
2025
The prisoner complained that he experienced a Use of Force because he refused to use the body scanner after transferring to a new prison. IPCI found that HMP Fosse Way were requiring all new receptions to use the X-Ray Body Scanner without justification. As the direct order to go on the body scanner was unreasonable, we deemed the UoF to be unreasonable and unnecessary.
Recommendations/outcome:
This case was linked to other complaints about the associated direct order to use the body scanner, and the following adjudication. We made recommendations in one of those cases which applied to all of these issues. We therefore did not feel it necessary to repeat those in this case. We asked the Director to apologised for the action taken in this case.
Upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Bure
Complaint category:
Adjudication & IEP
Month investigation completed:
July
Year investigation completed:
2025
The prisoner complained that he had been assaulted by another prisoner and that the adjudicator failed to refer the other prisoner’s adjudication to an independent adjudicator (IA). IPCI established that the hearing did not sufficiently consider whether an IA was needed. We also found that the adjudicator also responded to the complaint, which contravenes policy.
Recommendations/outcome:
We asked that the Governor consider apologising to the prisoner and to assure themselves that processes are in place to ensure all eligible cases are referred to an IA appropriately. HMP Bure was also asked to review the prisoner complaints framework to ensure complaint responses are allocated appropriately.
Upheld complaint against the Director of HMP Rye Hill
Complaint category:
Adjudication & IEP
Month investigation completed:
July
Year investigation completed:
2025
Rye Hill told the investigator that they had recently relaunched the policy to staff which included refresher training. We asked that the Director consider what additional action he needs to take to reinforce the expectations of the policy to all staff at Rye Hill.
Recommendations/outcome:
The prisoner complained that an officer made a negative incentives warning which they disagreed with. IPCI found that HMP Rye Hill did not follow their local incentives policy when issuing the warning.
Upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Channings Wood
Complaint category:
Property
Month investigation completed:
July
Year investigation completed:
2025
The prisoner complained about the loss of property following a transfer from HMP Bristol to HMP Channings Wood. The investigation found Channings Wood liable for the loss and noted that the prison failed to provide property records during the investigation, and failed to respond appropriately to the prisoner during the internal complaints process.
Recommendations/outcome:
IPCI proposed three personal remedies for the prisoner: that the Governor offer compensation for the missing items, apologise for the loss of property, and apologise for the poor handling of the complaint. IPCI also recommended that the Governor review gaps in property handling procedures, ensure a clear escalation process for delayed transfers, strengthen oversight of unresolved complaints, improve IPCI request handling, and embed a quality assurance process to support compliance with the Prisoner Complaints Policy Framework.
Upheld complaint against the Director of HMP Peterborough
Complaint category:
Property
Month investigation completed:
July
Year investigation completed:
2025
The prisoner complained that his tubs of protein powder and creatine had been destroyed by HMP Peterborough, which he only discovered after he had transferred to HMP Five Wells. Peterborough failed to respond to Investigator’s requests for information and proposal to resolve locally. We had previously made a recommendation about this earlier in the year.
Recommendations/outcome:
IPCI recommended that the Director embed a quality assurance process to ensure IPCI is provided with requested information and outline further improvements for handling such cases. We also recommended that the prisoner receive compensation and an apology.
Upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Wormwood Scrubs
Complaint category:
Property
Month investigation completed:
July
Year investigation completed:
2025
The prisoner complained that HMP Rye Hill lost his legal paperwork and failed to respond to him in time resulting in a missed appeal deadline. IPCI established that Rye Hill did not lose the paperwork, but that HMP Wormwood Scrubs failed to determine that a property bag containing the prisoner’s paperwork arrived at but did not leave the prison. Wormwood Scrubs also appeared to have opened a property bag without the prisoner present and resealed it with other items inside.
Recommendations/outcome:
IPCI requested that Wormwood Scrubs offer two personal remedies to the prisoner, consisting of an apology and compensation to replace the legal paperwork. We also recommended that the Governor addresses the internal compliance issues identified in the report.
Upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Woodhill
Complaint category:
Property
Month investigation completed:
July
Year investigation completed:
2025
The prisoner complained that prisoners were able to enter his cell and take his vape because staff had not locked the door. The prison accepted responsibility.
Recommendations/outcome:
The prison issued a free vape starter kit to the prisoner after they complained to us, but prior to the completion of the investigation. No further recommendations or remedies were necessary. We hold the view that this complaint should clearly have been resolved by the prison without reference to IPCI.
Partially upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Swaleside
Complaint category:
Medical
Month investigation completed:
July
Year investigation completed:
2025
A prisoner complained that while in segregation, they missed two dental appointments because they were not collected. IPCI found the complaint responses were incorrect, as they wrongly stated the complaint was out of time. This part of the complaint was upheld. The prison also failed to record why the appointments were missed.
Recommendations/outcome:
IPCI advised the Governor that recording reasons for missed appointments on a prisoner’s case notes and including these in complaint responses would be good practice. We also advised that it would be helpful for staff to be aware of the correct timescales for responses and for the business hub to review responses before they are sent out.
