Decision Report 201303043

Summary

Mr C, who is a prisoner, complained there was an unreasonable delay in the prison finalising his report after he completed a treatment programme. Mr C said the delay in completing the report meant he was prevented from undertaking any further work required before the parole board review his case.

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) told us that Mr C's report should have been finalised 16 weeks after he completed the programme. However, it had still not been completed four months after that. They explained that the facilitators were new to delivering the programme, and writing reports, and that this had impacted on timescales. In addition, before a decision could be reached on whether Mr C was required to undertake further programme work, his completed report needed to be considered by the prison's programmes case management board (PCMB).

As Mr C's case is due to be considered by the parole board in early 2014, we agreed the delay in completing his report was unreasonable. We upheld his complaint and made recommendations.

Recommendations

We recommended that the SPS:

• complete Mr C's report as a matter of urgency and ensure it is ready to be considered by the PCMB without further delay; and
• prioritise Mr C's access to any further programme work that may be identified by the PCMB.