PSO 2800 - Inside Time

PSO 2800 Annexes – Page 166.10. All racist incidents which have been reported from any source must be investigated. In eachcase:A written record must be maintained of the level of investigation selected;All formal investigations are conducted in line with PSO 1300 requirements;The investigator refers findings to the leader of the Race Equality Action Team;The leader of the REAT must complete Section 6 of the RIRF, and record whether anyfurther action is necessary;Any agreed recommended action is implemented;A written record is maintained of the details of the actual investigation and any subsequentaction taken.6.11. The leader of the REAT must ensure that:A complaint is acknowledged within 3 days of it being made;The investigation of the complaint is completed within 28 days of it being made;The complainant is informed of the findings of the investigation within 14 days of completionof the investigation.(These time frames must be complied with, unless an extension is authorised by the leaderof the REAT and the reason recorded on the incident log, and the complainant informed).6.12 The following key actions must be recorded on the electronic log:Findings and outcome of the investigation;The outcome of the investigation has been conveyed to those involved;Target date for completion of the required action;Date when all actions have been completed.6.13 Every year a sample of investigation reports (5% or a minimum of 10 investigations,whichever is the greater) must be examined by an external person or organisation (eg fromthe voluntary and community sector). This is an important way of gaining feedback on theinvestigation process and building confidence in the racist incident reporting system.Individuals conducting these examinations must:Have an understanding of race equality legislation and experience of dealing with raceequality issues;Have an understanding of the Prison Service complaints and investigation processes (itmay be necessary for establishments to provide information and/or training about this);Sign an agreement to maintain appropriate confidentiality, and specifically not to makepublic information about individual cases.A written record must be maintained of the feedback received on the quality of theinvestigations, and any action that will be taken to address the points raised should beincluded in the Race Equality Action Plan.6.14 Establishments must comply with the above standards using the version of the RacistIncident Reporting Form at annex 8, and the electronic log distributed by Race EqualityAction Group. The RIRF is available in 25 languages on the Forms page of the PrisonService Intranet. Guidance on the use of the electronic log is available in the Race EqualityKey Performance Targets Guidance Manual.6.15 The aims of the system are to ensure that:the recording of racist incidents is accurate and standardised;the response to individual incidents is effective and proportionate, thus increasing theIssue No. 264 issue date 25/09/06