7. Memorandum from the Prisons and
Probation Ombudsman for England and Wales
It may be helpful for members of the Joint Committee
to know that, in its 2002 White Paper, Justice for All,
the Government said that it was considering whether to extend
the remit of the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman's Office to include
the investigation of self-inflicted deaths in custody. Further
to that statement, the Home Office has conducted a consultation
exercise and proposals are expected to be put before Ministers
shortly.
My own view is that independent investigation
will bring with it significant benefits. Public confidence and
the safeguards under Article 2 ECHR should both be enhanced. Investigations
(and reports) should be more consistent and of a higher quality.
The focus can be less on whether the rules have been followed
and more on the merits of decisions. And it will be possible to
look at the actions and inactions of decision-makers outside prison
as well as inside. Should the responsibility pass to me, I should
also be looking at ways to involve the bereaved families of those
who have died.
That said, I commend the efforts the Prison
Service has made in recent years to improve the openness and usefulness
of its own investigations. Indeed, members of my office have been
involved in several independent advisory panels that the Prison
Service has set up to review particular deaths.
The Home Office consultation exercise about
extending my remit to deaths in custody has been both fruitful
and encouraging. A resource issue will have to be faced (at present,
the costs of internal Prison Service investigations are very largely
opportunity costs alone). But if that is resolved, then I believe
my office would be well-equipped to take on the daunting responsibility
of investigating deaths both in prisons and of the residents of
probation hostels.
I should prefer if that extension of responsibility
came with a full array of statutory powers. However, as a stage
towards a full statutory system (if there is no room at present
in the legislative timetable), consideration could properly be
given to an administrative scheme.
Members of the Committee should also be aware
that, at the request of the Home Secretary, I am currently leading
an investigation of a death that occurred in August of a prisoner
at HMP Styal. My terms of reference also require me to consider
that death in the context of five other deaths to have occurred
at Styal over the past year.
This is the first time that the investigation
of a death in a British prison has been independently conducted.
I believe my terms of reference are also unique so far as consideration
of the other deaths is concerned. Although features of this investigation
are unlikely to be repeated if my remit were extended to all deaths,
my colleagues and I have learned a huge amount from the exercise.
More generally, I have views on the development
of what I have termed "the Caring Prison"; in other
words, institutions in which prisoners and staff treat each other
with respect and where suicide and self-harm become less likely.
Although overcrowding and the consequent "churn" of
prisoners through the system have undoubtedly exercised a malign
effect throughout the prison system in recent years, I decry those
who fail to acknowledge the significant changes for the better
that have also occurred. I see this both in my direct work as
Ombudsman and in the many and regular visits I make to prison
establishments.
I hope these thoughts are helpful. Either I
or colleagues would be delighted to present evidence in person
should that be the wish of the Committee.
Stephen Shaw
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman for England and Wales
8 September 2003
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