Corrections welcomes Ombudsmen findings

13 December 2005

Department of Corrections Chief Executive Barry Matthews welcomes the findings of an Office of the Ombudsmen report into the detention and treatment of prisoners.

"The Office of the Ombudsmen found no general ill-treatment of prisoners or inappropriate conduct of staff. To quote from the Ombudsmen's report; "we reiterate that we found neither systemic ill-treatment of prisoners or abuses of power…., nor any culture within prison staff for abuse of prisoners."

Mr Matthews says the findings are a vindication of the professionalism and integrity of prison staff in their dealings with prisoners.

"There are over 3,000 staff and 7,000 prisoners in the Public Prisons Service and it is inevitable that mistakes will be made. There have been a couple of examples recently that have gained a high profile but this report confirms that they do not define who we are.

"We have an excellent international reputation and the Office of the Ombudsmen's findings show the organisation is fundamentally in good heart."

In addition to finding no general ill-treatment of prisoners or inappropriate conduct of staff, the Office of the Ombudsmen found:

• cell searches were carried out with due respect and without gratuitous disruption – this is despite it having been suggested to Ombudsmen at the beginning of their investigation that cell searching was used as means of harassment of prisoners.
• no systemic problem with regard to the personal searches of prisoners
• a consensus among prisoners that currently there are no general concerns with the use of force.
• no fundamental problem with the complaint procedures that exist for prisoners.

Mr Matthews agrees there is room for improvement, particularly in the provision of rehabilitation programmes and constructive activities for prisoners.

"The Office of the Ombudsmen has made a number of recommendations that are consistent with our own thinking on these issues. We will thoroughly review the recommendations and assess priorities before determining how best to implement them.

"The Department has already committed to a comprehensive review of the way interventions are targeted and scheduled. We have also recently updated the Department's prisoner employment strategy, with the aim of increasing meaningful work opportunities for prisoners through vocational training and employment," says Mr Matthews.