HC Deb 28 November 1995 vol 267 cc659-60W
Mr Redmond

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many cases from Doncaster prison the prisons ombudsman has reported: and if he will make a statement. [2274]

Miss Widdecombe

Since the prisons ombudsman began to take complaints from prisoners on 24 October 1994 he has received 26 complaints from Doncaster. Twenty of these were ineligible—19 because the prison has not exhausted the internal request complaint system and one because it came from a third party. The eligibility of two cases is currently being considered. Investigations have taken place into the remaining three complaints and in one of these cases the complaint was upheld. This case involved property stolen from a prisoner's cell, apparently as a result of a design fault in the cell windows at Doncaster. The prison ombudsman recommended that the prisoner involved should receive compensation for the loss and the Prison Service accepted this recommendation.