Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) prison and (b) probation workers have made complaints through the new independent reporting channel in HMPPS.

HM Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS’s) Independent Review, Resolution and Investigation Service (IRRIS), which supersedes the Tackling Unacceptable Behaviour Unit (TUBU), was launched on 26 January 2026.

IRRIS continues to deliver all TUBU services: a helpline, mediation, investigation support and Climate Assessments. In addition, pending changes to HMPPS’s Grievance Policy, IRRIS operates an Interim Grievance Process.

The Interim Grievance Process, which operates in accordance with the current HMPPS Grievance Policy, was agreed with HMPPS’s recognised Trades Unions as a temporary measure to enable any member of HMPPS staff raising a bullying, harassment, discrimination or victimisation grievance to have their complaint handled by an independent decision maker, outside of their own management line.

TUBU and IRRIS led or supported 303 investigations in 2025-26. We are expanding IRRIS’s investigation capacity through role restructure and recruitment to enable the team to deliver the independent channel’s strengthened remit.

HMPPS is working closely with Ministry of Justice HR Policy colleagues to update its Grievance and Conduct & Discipline Polices to take account of the recommendations of the Rademaker Review. Those policies are close to being finalised and HMPPS will continue to run the interim grievance process until they are.

Based on management information available from our case management system, the total number of grievances received through the Interim Grievance Process since it began in November 2025 is 578. Of these, 387 were raised by prison staff and 170 by probation staff (including approved premises staff). The remaining 21 grievances were raised by headquarters staff. The concerns raised relate to harassment, discrimination, bullying and victimisation. Outcomes via the independent process include upheld, rejected and partially upheld decisions.