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Decision Report 201601500

  • Case ref:
    201601500
  • Date:
    December 2016
  • Body:
    Scottish Prison Service
  • Sector:
    Prisons
  • Outcome:
    Not upheld, no recommendations
  • Subject:
    religious books, items and practices

Summary

Mr C complained that the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) were failing to provide appropriate dietary requirements for Jewish festivals, specifically the Seder, a ceremonial meal eaten as part of Passover.

SPS rules say that the governor must ensure that every prisoner is provided with a diet that takes into account, as far as practicable, the prisoner's age, health, religion, and cultural, dietary or other requirements. In addition, according to the SPS food manual, prisons should cater for a minimum of three separate religious festivals each year. In this case, the prison had already catered for Ramadan, Passover and Eid Al Adha. They also planned to cater for Christmas.

We considered the evidence available and took the view that the SPS were meeting the requirements of the prison rules and the food manual. Therefore, we did not uphold Mr C's complaint.

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Updated: March 13, 2018