Overview
The complainant (Mr C) was aggrieved that the Scottish Prisons Complaints Commission (SPCC) failed to deal with his complaint in a reasonable time, failed to communicate adequately with him or with the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), and did not deal with the substance of his complaint against the SPS or pursue it appropriately.
Specific complaints and conclusions
The complaints which have been investigated are that the SPCC failed to:
- (a) respond to Mr C's complaint within an agreed timescale or otherwise within a reasonable time (upheld);
- (b) intimate the complaint promptly to the SPS (upheld);
- (c) provide adequate information as to progress with the complaint (upheld);
- (d) respond substantively to the complaint which concerned the failure on the part of the SPS to consider on its merits an IT facility request (upheld); and
- (e) ensure receipt of their recommendations by the SPS Chief Executive (upheld).
Redress and recommendations
The Ombudsman recommends that the SPCC:
- (i) apologise to Mr C for the time taken to deal with his complaint, for not keeping him updated with progress on his complaint, and for not addressing his complaint;
- (ii) take steps to introduce their internal timescale targets as quickly as possible, include them in their complaints leaflet, and provide regular updates to complainants;
- (iii) formally notify the SPS as soon as they decide to investigate a complaint;
- (iv) re-state the recommendations made to the SPS in June 2008;
- (v) provide Mr C with redress for failing to deal with his complaint by asking the SPS to: a) clarify whether policy on prisoner access to computers is a blanket national policy or at the discretion of local Governors, b) consider Mr C's request for a laptop on its merits; and c) consider the effectiveness of the system for tracking the shared laptop in Mr C's prison;
- (vi) include a response deadline in their recommendation letters to the SPS Chief Executive. If no response is received by that date, the SPCC should contact the SPS seeking an immediate response; and
- (vii) ensure that copies of all emails that relate to complaints are retained, or duplicated in paper form or otherwise saved in another place.