The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman

Recruitment opportunity 📈

We are hiring for the role of Deputy Ombudsman (Complaints). The campaign is live until 11.55pm on Sunday 5 October 2025. For more information and to apply, click: https://civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi?jcode=1968751

Please do share this with anyone who might be interested. Good luck!

Deputy Ombudsman (Complaints) - Civil Service Jobs - GOV.UK Search and apply for jobs in the UK Civil Service

Today The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman Adrian Usher published his second Annual Report, highlighting the key changes and impact we delivered in 2024 to 2025.

The report outlines not only the challenges but also the successes we have had in raising standards of safety and fairness for the services in remit.

We received 5,267 complaints, a 15% increase. Some of this increase will be due to the successful launch of Independent Prisoner Complaint Investigations (IPCI), however it is undeniable that some of the rise will be as a direct consequence of a system under strain.

5,100 of the complaints we received were about prisons. As in previous years, property was the most common category of complaints we completed (35%).

Getting things sorted quickly, and locally, is the best outcome when things have gone wrong for prisoners. We established a more mature and consistent approach to returning complaints to prisons where we assessed there had been an insufficient attempt by them to resolve the matter, and we pushed back 170 complaints received to ensure prisons start investigating complaints properly first.

We started 486 investigations into fatal incidents in 2024 to 2025, 35% more than the previous year. 100 of these were self-inflicted deaths, which is too many.

The prison population is also getting older, and we started investigations into 84 more cases than in the previous year of the deaths of older people (aged 50 and over).

Click the link to read the full report: https://ppo.gov.uk/corporate_document/annual-report-2024-to-2025/

Richard Tucker and Sarah Kirwan, the Senior Investigators leading The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman's special investigation into the abuse at Medomsley Detention Centre, write to let the public know that their investigation is now complete. See our website for their letter and for information on the next stage of the investigation: https://ppo.gov.uk/news/a-closing-letter-from-the-operation-deerness-leads/

After two years in post, Prisons and Probation Ombudsman Adrian Usher has published his third Business Plan setting out our priorities for 2025/26. The plan outlines our ambitions for the year including continuing the roll out of the IPCI Ambassador scheme, tackling the barriers those in immigration detention and those under probation supervision face when complaining to us, as well as undertaking new thematic work.

We have also published our Race Action Plan for 2025/26. In the Ombudsman’s foreword, Adrian highlights the progress that has been made in the past six months. This includes a framework for investigators providing guidance on how to consider racism within casework, as well as recording where we or the complainant felt there were issues relating to race in our investigations.

Click the link for more information:

PPO publish 2025-26 Business Plan and Race Action Plan – Prisons and Probation Ombudsman We investigate deaths in custody, and complaints from people who are in custody or under community supervision.

NEW PUBLICATIONS:

Property is consistently the most common category of complaints that we investigate - our latest Policy into Practice publications address handling prisoners’ property and handling property complaints.

In these, we share recurring issues from our investigations, including property cards not being completed properly, failures to check property during transfers and missing cell clearance certificates.

We also remind HM Prison and Probation Service staff what they should remember when handling prisoner’s property complaints in line with policy requirements.

You can read the new publications here: https://ppo.gov.uk/news/improving-the-handling-of-prisoners-property-and-property-complaints-in-prisons/

There’s only a couple of days left to complete our 2024/25 General Stakeholder Survey before 31 March. We’d love to hear your feedback about our work and how we engage with you.

It takes ten minutes, so please take part here:

PPO General Stakeholder Survey 2024/25 Please take a few minutes to take our survey.

Today The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman have published a Learning Lessons Bulletin about property complaints.

Property is consistently the most common complaint category that we investigate. We researched complaints received over a five-year period (5,610 in total) which revealed a number of policy and operational improvements HM Prison and Probation Service can make to address the main causes for property complaints.

This bulletin summarises the learning from our investigations, covering key causes of property complaints such as the poor handling of property during transfers, poor record-keeping practices and issues with cell clearances.

Click the link to read our news post for more information and to read the bulletin:

Repeat issues with prison’s property handling – Prisons and Probation Ombudsman We investigate deaths in custody, and complaints from people who are in custody or under community supervision.

There’s still time to complete our 2024/25 General Stakeholder Survey before 31 March!

It only takes ten minutes to complete so please do give us your feedback:

PPO General Stakeholder Survey 2024/25 Please take a few minutes to take our survey.

We are pleased to announce the launch of IPCI Ambassadors phase 2 today at: HMP Norwich, HMP New Hall, HMP Bure, HMP Onley, HMP Rye Hill, HMP Humber, HMP Cardiff, HMP Wymott, HMP Durham, HMP Portland, HMP High Down, HMP East Sutton Park, HMP Berwyn, HMP Oakwood, HMP Littlehey, HMP The Mount, HMP Downview, HMP Hewell, HMP Buckley Hall, HMP Hollesley Bay, HMP Warren Hill, HMP Drake Hall, HMP Leeds, HMP Standford Hill, HMP Peterborough – male, HMP Peterborough - female

An IPCI Ambassador is a voluntary role that specific prisoners carry out to signpost other prisoners to support around their complaint, both in navigating local processes and knowing how and when to escalate something to IPCI.

Thank you to those prisons who have signed up to the scheme so far. We are pleased the scheme is available at just under 40% of adult prisons.

Read our news post for more information and for a full list of the participating prisons: https://ppo.gov.uk/news/ipci-ambassadors-phase-2-launches-in-26-more-prisons/

Our 2024/25 General Stakeholder Survey is now open until 31st March! It only takes 10 minutes to complete, and your feedback is invaluable in helping us assess the way we work.

We want to hear what you think we do well and areas that we could improve in. Please give us your feedback and take part here:

PPO General Stakeholder Survey 2024/25 Please take a few minutes to take our survey.