Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an estimate of the number of prisons that have a process for complainants to state what they want to happen following an investigation into their complaint.

The current Prisoner Complaints Policy Framework was published in August 2019 and implemented across all prisons in England and Wales. There is a clear requirement within this for staff in all prisons to adopt a problem-solving approach, applying the ‘balance of probabilities’ level of proof when investigating complaints. Each complaint form gives the prisoner the opportunity to state what they want to see happen as a result of their complaint.

Prisons are required to complete routine checks of samples of complaint forms in order to assure the quality of responses. Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service works closely with the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman to share good practice and feedback and review assurance processes in relation to complaint responses.

Outside of this process, prisoners are also able to submit a Discrimination Incident Reporting Form, if they perceive that they have experienced, or witnessed, an incident of discrimination. This process is confidential, and each incident must be investigated via a designated process within a set timescale.