Decision report 201200315

Summary

Mr C, who is a prisoner, complained that the prison were restricting his access to the complaints process. Mr C said complaint forms were not readily available and that some forms were withheld by staff. He also said there was no information displayed about the complaints process or the disciplinary appeals process. Mr C said he was also waiting to receive complaints back from the prison which had exceeded the timescale.

We explored the issues raised by Mr C with the prison. The prison advised that all residential areas were checked and details of the complaints process were prominently displayed and complaint forms were readily available. The prison was also unable to comment on Mr C's claims that some complaints were withheld by staff because he had not identified any individuals. However, the prison did advise that staff were spoken to and assured that complaint forms were dealt with appropriately. The prison also checked the record of Mr C's received complaints and advised that all of complaints had been responded to and returned to him. We did not uncover any evidence to suggest that Mr C's access to the complaints process was being restricted and because of that, we did not uphold his complaint.