Partially Upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Wayland
Complaint category:
Staff behaviour
Month investigation completed:
July
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained about the actions of a named member of staff, who he felt was bullying him. The IPCI investigation established that the prison had taken the matter seriously and investigated it. In our investigation we found evidence of some staff behaviour which was unprofessional, but this did not meet the threshold for an investigation under the relevant policy.
Recommendations/outcome:
We wrote to the Governor to alert him to the behaviour and to ask him to consider whether there were any wider concerns regarding this member of staff.
Partially Upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Highdown
Complaint category:
Categorisation, progression & release preparation
Month investigation completed:
July
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained that his progression was delayed due to not having an up-to-date sentence plan and OASys. The IPCI investigation established that there were significant delays in these documents being completed, which would have resulted in a delay to him being recategorised down, if eligible.
Recommendations/outcome:
Since the complaint was accepted for investigation, the documents had subsequently been reviewed. The decision remained that he was in ineligible to be recategorised down.
Upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Stocken
Complaint category:
Categorisation, progression & release preparation
Month investigation completed:
July
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained that having been granted category D conditions, the decision was quickly reversed when further information emerged. The IPCI investigation established that the decision was made before some further important information was identified
Recommendations/outcome:
We recommended the prison apologise to the complainant and issue a notice to staff that recategorisation decisions should not be made and communicated until all of the relevant information has been obtained and considered.
Upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Leeds
Complaint category:
Property
Month investigation completed:
July
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained that ‘follow on’ property from HMP Leeds failed to arrive. The IPCI investigation established that prior to transfer the prisoner packed his property, but that the contents had not been checked against the property cards to ensure what the bags contained. This was in breach of policy.
Recommendations/outcome:
We were critical of the inadequate responses to the prisoner’s complaint and asked the Governor to remind staff of the requirements of the property framework regarding checking property on transfer. We asked that the prisoner be paid £120 in compensation.
Upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Ranby
Complaint category:
Property
Month investigation completed:
July
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained about damage to his stereo when he transferred between Ranby and Bullingdon. He initially complained to Geo Amey who investigated and did not uphold his complaint. Neither Ranby or Bullingdon investigated the matter, neither demonstrated good complaint handling practice, or adherence to the requirements of the property framework to audit the property.
Recommendations/outcome:
We recommended each prison contributed equally to the cost of a replacement stereo.
Partially upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Whitemoor
Complaint category:
Property
Month investigation completed:
July
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained about damage to correspondence sent in under r39 which had been damaged as part of security screening practices. The IPCI investigation established there was no clear guidance in the prison on how mail should be tested, which needed to be addressed.
Recommendations/outcome:
We recommended that updated guidance was issued to staff on testing items received and that compensation was paid for the damaged books.
Partially upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Whitemoor
Complaint category:
Property
Month investigation completed:
July
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained about damage to books sent in which had been pierced several times as part of security screening practices. The investigation established there was no clear guidance in the prison on how mail should be tested.
Recommendations/outcome:
We recommended that updated guidance was issued to staff on testing items received and that compensation was paid for the damaged books.
Partially upheld complaint against the Director of HMP Oakwood
Complaint category:
Categorisation, progression & release preparation
Month investigation completed:
June
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained about the delay in completing his Offender Assessment System risk assessment report and sentence plan while he was at HMP Oakwood. We partially upheld the complaint due to the report being completed more than seven months after sentencing (the target is ten weeks).
Recommendations/outcome:
The prison had taken suitable actions to address the issue prior to the outcome of the investigation. We sent a copy of the Record of Investigation to the Director of Oakwood so that he was aware of the issues identified in the investigation.
Partially upheld complaint against the Governor of HMP Swaleside
Complaint category:
Property
Month investigation completed:
June
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained that some of his property had gone missing following his segregation at Swaleside. The investigation found that after the prisoner assaulted an officer, including throwing bodily fluids at him, the cell was found to have excrement and bodily fluids in it. Any contaminated property was disposed of. However, the property cards were not updated to reflect this.
Recommendations/outcome:
The outcome was copied to the Governor of Swaleside to ensure that if property is disposed of the property cards are updated accordingly.
Upheld complaint against the Director of HMP Forest Bank
Complaint category:
Property
Month investigation completed:
June
Year investigation completed:
2024
The prisoner complained that some of his property had gone missing following his segregation at Forest Bank. The IPCI investigation found that the property cards and cell clearance certificates had not been retained in accordance with the policy. It was therefore not possible to establish what had been lost.
Recommendations/outcome:
We upheld the complaint for this reason.