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Ombudsman empowers peers to encourage complaints from prisoners
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman launches new IPCI Ambassador scheme to improve prisoner complaints process

New Ombudsman Initiative

Last week (27 November 2024) Adrian Usher, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, launched his newest initiative demonstrating his commitment to making the complaints process more accessible to people in prison. One year after launching Independent Prisoner Complaint Investigations (IPCI), the Ombudsman launched IPCI Ambassadors.

Ambassadors

Launching across multiple prisons, an ‘IPCI Ambassador’ is a voluntary role that prisoners carry out to signpost other prisoners to support around their complaint, both in navigating local processes and knowing how and when to escalate something to IPCI. 

Launching the initiative, the Ombudsman said:

“When we launched IPCI last year, we heard from prisoners about the value of having a fellow prisoner to steer them in the right direction when they wanted to raise an issue locally.  We hope IPCI Ambassadors will help us not only improve prisoner’s understanding of the local complaints process but also how and when to use IPCI if needed.

I believe IPCI Ambassadors will make the local complaints processes easier to navigate and play a role in helping sort small issues sooner before they escalate. The scheme will improve relationships between prisoners and staff and reduce tensions on the wing. We are making good use of prisoner’s local knowledge, and we hope this will make raising issues in prison clearer and easier.”

If a person in prison needs help with a complaint, they can find their IPCI Ambassador in participating prisons by looking out for prisoners with branded IPCI Ambassador materials such as armbands or lanyards.

The Ombudsman says he hopes that the launch of this scheme will not only help reduce the number of ineligible complaints the PPO receives, but more importantly give prisoners a sense of purpose and help their fellow inmates to complain if they need to.

He sets out the benefits of having the IPCI Ambassadors scheme in prisons are:

  • Supports prisoners with the process of making a complaint, reducing ineligible complaints.
  • Helps to improve relationships between prisons and staff.
  • Makes use of prisoner’s local knowledge and making complaints more accessible.
  • Can be incorporated and embedded in existing prisoner signposting schemes as IPCI Ambassadors will be those already in voluntary roles.
  • Free of charge (no cost for the prison).

Currently, IPCI ambassadors are only available in these 20 prisons:

  • HMP Wormwood Scrubs
  • HMP Holme House
  • HMP Nottingham
  • HMP North Sea Camp
  • HMP Parc
  • HMP Prescoed
  • HMP Send
  • HMP Askham Grange
  • HMP Ranby
  • HMP Usk
  • HMP Hatfield
  • HMP Hindley
  • HMP Preston
  • HMP Stafford
  • HMP Isle of Wight
  • HMP Haverigg
  • HMP Liverpool
  • HMP Whatton
  • HMP Deerbolt
  • HMP Northumberland

The Ombudsman is clear that he wants to roll out the Ambassadors Scheme in as many prisons as possible.

Conclusion

Mr Usher is quietly developing a reputation as someone who wants to make a real difference during his term as Ombudsman with a real focus on raising awareness of the prisoner complaints system and transparency.

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