The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, Nigel Newcomen, today spoke about new psychoactive substances (NPS) at a roundtable organised by thinktank Reform at their offices in Westminster. He writes below about the learning on NPS drawn from his investigations into deaths… Read More
Staff in prisons need to get better at spotting and using essential information about the risk of suicide among prisoners, said Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) Nigel Newcomen. Today, he published a bulletin on the lessons that can be learned… Read More
Some improvement has been made in managing the mental health needs of prisoners, but there is still a long way to go, said Prisons and Probation Ombudsman Nigel Newcomen. Today he published a review on prisoner mental health arising from… Read More
“An important test of the humanity of a prison system is the way it manages the most vulnerable”, said the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, Nigel Newcomen CBE, yesterday at a meeting of the parliamentary All Party Penal Affairs Group. “There… Read More
The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman provides services to a range of stakeholders and annually seeks their views as to our performance. These views are absolutely key to understanding our strengths and weaknesses, as well as gaining concrete examples of how… Read More
The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, Nigel Newcomen CBE, yesterday hosted a delegation from the Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice, headed by First Deputy Minister Natalia Sevostianova. The meeting was part of a fact-finding visit, sponsored by the Council of Europe, as… Read More
The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, Nigel Newcomen CBE, and several of his senior management team yesterday met with staff and the lawyers group from INQUEST, the independent charity providing free advice to people bereaved by a death in custody and… Read More
The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, Nigel Newcomen CBE, has published his investigation report on the death of a man, who died of coronary heart disease on 10 February 2013, while a detainee of Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre (IRC). He was… Read More
Prisoners’ correspondence with their lawyers must be kept confidential, but when prison staff have opened this mail inappropriately, it was usually due to human error rather than anything more sinister, said Prisons and Probation Ombudsman Nigel Newcomen. He added, however,… Read More
Earlier today, the Secretary of State for Justice laid the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman’s Annual Report 2014-15 before Parliament, charting PPO’s operational and financial performance for the previous year. In his report, the Ombudsman, Nigel Newcomen CBE, draws attention to… Read More