§ Ms RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he authorised the office of the prisons ombudsman to refuse to investigate complaints which are received in a prisoner's own handwriting. [37195]
§ Miss WiddecombeComplaints to the prisons ombudsman are never rejected because they are hand-written. The vast majority of complaints received by the prisons ombudsman are in the prisoner's own writing and are carefully considered to see whether they are eligible for investigation within the terms of the ombudsman's remit. It is, of course, helpful to the ombudsman's office if handwritten letters are legible. The ombudsman also accepts complaints from prisoners written in foreign languages. The detailed procedures are set out in the document, "The Prisons Ombudsman: A Note on Arrangements" a copy of which is available in the Library.