Equality and human rights – May 2014

We often get contacted by people in prison who believe they are being discriminated against. This is when someone is treated differently because of certain factors, such as age, race, sexuality or disability. NOMS polices say that all services should be delivered fairly and be responsive to individual needs. In situations where something is not fair, or harassment or bullying is happening, staff should take action quickly. Prisons also have to have an annual equality action plan that is published and that explains who is responsible for progress in each area.

There is a separate complaint process if you want to make a complaint that is about discrimination. This is to ensure that people can complain about their treatment in a safe and fair way. There are special complaints forms you can use if you feel you have experienced discrimination. They are called DIRFs discrimination incident reporting forms. There should be a way of making a complaint, confidentially, if it is about discrimination. The forms and envelopes should be easily available. The system for putting in complaints and replying to them must be private and secure. The complaint should initially be looked at and responded to by a manager. If you are not happy with the response to your complaint you can appeal to a senior manager. If your complaint is very serious or sensitive, you can use the confidential access process that means the complaint can be looked at by the governor, the deputy director of custody or the chair of the Independent Monitoring Board. If you want more information about the complaints system and the best way of taking a concern forward, you can contact the Prison Reform Trust’s advice service to discuss this.

The process for diversity complaints in prisons is supervised by a senior manager who makes sure that the responses are of a good quality. The senior management team in the prison should look at the kind of complaints that are coming in, and see if anything in the prison should be changed or improved. There is more information about the process in the Prison Service Instruction on Ensuring Equality, PSI 32/2011.

Governors must also make sure that prisoners and others are consulted and involved in equality work in prison. Although the policy says that this has to happen, it is up to the governor how they do this. So, this could be through using equality and diversity representatives. Or, it could be through a prisoners’ council or through wing representatives. Ideally, prison staff will also talk to organisations outside of the prison who can provide support and advice.

PRT are working with NOMS to produce an update to the 2009 booklet for prisoners with a disability. We expect this to be ready in the summer. It will contain information on what is a disability, your rights, asking for help and support with daily life in prison. It will also have a list of useful organisations. In addition, we are working on a booklet for prisoners on human rights which will be ready in mid May. Many of the rights under the Human Rights Act are limited or removed when you are sent to prison. These rights do not always apply in the same way to people in prison as they do to people in the community. The booklet gives information about some of the rights which most commonly affect prisoners and examples of when claims have been successful or unsuccessful.

 
from insidetime issue May 2014