PRISONERS at HMP Berwyn have raised concerns about not being understood by officers when speaking Welsh.

An annual report of the Independent Monitoring Board at the prison was published this month.

The report, which concerns the period of March 1, 2019 to February 29, 2020 contains details of discrimination incident report forms (DIRFs).

According to the document, some of these forms relate to prisoners who could not be understood by officers because they spoke Welsh.

These circumstances allegedly resulted in the inmates being "challenged" with a review of their privileges.

The report states: "The DIRF system provides prisoners with an opportunity to report any discrimination, harassment and victimisation that they are experiencing.

"There has been reported a continued lack of confidence in the DIRF investigation process from both staff and prisoners.

"The prison has looked at an external independent quality assurance to review the DIRF process at Berwyn.

"In terms of the Welsh language, it was noted that some DIRFs submitted concerned prisoners speaking Welsh on the communities who could not be understood by officers.

"It was alleged that these prisoners were challenged with a review of their incentives and earned privileges (IEP) status.

"Welsh-speaking prisoners also highlighted concerns that they were denied a Welsh-speaking interpreter in their adjudications and felt that they could not rely on the Welsh-speaking prison staff to be impartial.

"The induction community has recognised that it would benefit from having a live-in Welsh speaker."

According to the report, most DIRFs related to race; which includes the Welsh language and the Gypsy, Roma, Traveller community.

It adds: "We recognise that effort to improve equality has been made but this needs to be

continued, with specific effort being required to improve confidence in using the DIRF

process.

"At present, too many complainants do not appear to recognise the good work being carried out, so there is a need to improve satisfaction with DIRF outcomes."