Decision Report 201301938

Summary

Mr C, who is a prisoner, complained because he said the prison wrongly refused to issue his writing materials to him. In particular, he requested a packet of carbon paper and an eraser. The prison told Mr C that he would not be allowed the carbon paper because prisoners were not allowed to use it.

Our investigation found that the governor is authorised to refuse to allow a prisoner to have items of property in use if they feel any item of property affects the security of the prison. In Mr C's case, the prison had decided that carbon paper was an unauthorised item. They also told us that Mr C would be allowed to have the eraser when his current one needed replaced. In light of this, we did not agree that the prison had wrongly refused to issue Mr C's writing materials.

Mr C also said the prison did not respond appropriately to his complaint. We found that there was a short delay in his complaint form being returned but we were satisfied the prison had responded properly.