PPO Articles archive

“We wondered how we could reach more staff and this encouraged us to go back to basics.”   My name is Lisa, and I am an Assistant Ombudsman in the Fatal Incident Investigations team. I oversee fatal incident investigations and… Read More

“Focus group responses showed there was a considerable lack of trust in the whole complaints process.”   The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) has set out to examine how prisoners experienced the complaints system (both the internal HMPPS and PPO… Read More

“Our recommendations can help those in custody and even lead to improvements in the prison.”   In this issue of The Investigator, we wanted to highlight some of the more common complaints we investigate and how we might resolve them.… Read More

  The PPO’s Learning Lessons Bulletin, Approved Premises – Substance Misuse published in November 2017, highlighted the risks posed by psychoactive substances (PS) in Approved Premises (APs). The PPO has previously recommended that APs develop mechanisms to test for PS… Read More

As well as investigating complaints from those in custody, the PPO carries out independent investigations into the deaths of prisoners or detained individuals in: Prisons Young Offenders Institutions and Secure Training Centres Secure Children’s Homes Immigration Removal Centres Probation Approved… Read More

This article featured in Inside Time’s January newspaper. In December’s article, we told you how to complain to the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO), and this month we want to tell you about some of the more common complaints we… Read More

This article previously featured in Inside Time’s December newspaper: https://insidetime.org/prisons-and-probation-ombudsman-2/   If you have a complaint, you must first contact your prison. You will need to: Submit a COMP1 form for each complaint issue. Appeal the prison’s response within 7… Read More

“I think it’s important prison staff have a better understanding of why the PPO investigate such events; it’s not a witch hunt to find somebody to blame.”   I’m James, the new Strategy Officer at the PPO. I recently joined… Read More

“It’s about assuring prisoners and detainees that you (or someone close to you) can talk or write to any of us about anything, no matter how sensitive or potentially serious, without fear of negative consequences.”   We hope that you… Read More