§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason the target to close 70 per cent. of prison and probation service investigations within 12 weeks was not met. [68783]
§ Hilary Benn[holding answer 11 July 2002]: The target to which the hon. Member refers is set by the Ombudsman for Prisons and Probation. The Ombudsman sets a target of issuing a final report of his investigations within 12 weeks. In his annual report for 2000–01, published on 27 June, the Ombudsman reports a decline in performance in meeting this target in the case of complaints from prisoners, from 73 per cent. of cases dealt with in 1999–2000 to 63 per cent. of cases dealt with in 2000–01. As explained in his report, the drop in performance was largely brought about by a 53 per cent. increase in the number of eligible complaints, an increase which he attributes to a speeding up of the Prison Service complaints system so that more prisoners are prepared to complete the complaints process before going to the Ombudsman direct. Most complaints and appeals are now answered by the Prison Service within six weeks. The Ombudsman can only investigate once the internal complaints process has been completed.
The Ombudsman was awarded additional resources to cope with the backlog in 2001–02 and it has now substantially decreased.
The Ombudsman's remit did not extend to complaints relating to the National Probation Service until September 2001, and they are not covered in his annual report. All these complaints are being completed by his office on time.