Decision Report 201501217

Summary

Mr C complained to us that the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) had failed to pay him at the correct rate for his attendance at work and education sessions in prison. The amount a prisoner is paid for work in prison depends on the activity level their job falls into. Although this is a discretionary decision for the SPS to take, we found that the SPS had provided Mr C with conflicting information about the activity level of his job. We also found that they had given Mr C inaccurate information about the level of payment for attending education sessions. In view of these failings, we upheld Mr C's complaint.

Recommendations

We recommended that SPS:

• issue a written apology to Mr C for the inaccurate information they provided to him;
• ensure that relevant staff in the prison are aware of the correct rate of payment that prisoners are paid for attending education sessions; and
• review the payments made to Mr C in the prison to ensure that he received all the payments he was entitled to.