Summary
Mr C, who is a prisoner, complained that the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) treated him unfairly compared to another prisoner who was allowed to use his own electric typewriter, which his family had brought into prison. He also complained that the SPS failed to explain clearly and fully why he could not have his electric typewriter brought in.
We looked at what Mr C told us about his complaint, the SPS records and policies about personal property in prison. Our investigation found that the dates of Mr Cs request for his electric typewriter and his complaint to the SPS were several weeks apart from the other prisoners request. The SPS had treated the other prisoners case as an exception, as at that time they had no recognised supplier for an electric typewriter. We concluded, therefore, that it was reasonable for the SPS to treat Mr Cs request in line with their policies and procedures, as they had by then sourced a new recognised supplier. We did not uphold this complaint.
The SPS were not able to provide us with any formal documentation about their final investigation of Mr Cs complaint. Having read the written responses to Mr Cs initial complaint, however, we concluded that he did not receive a clear and full explanation and, therefore, we upheld this complaint.
Recommendations
We recommended that SPS: ensure that investigations are carried out in reasonable time and that a record is kept.
Related reading
View Decision Report 201101671 as a PDF (12.28 KB) Updated: March 13, 2018