Inspection report published following unannounced visit to removal centre near Heathrow
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons (HMI Prisons) has released a new inspection report on Colnbrook immigration removal centre (IRC) near Heathrow, run under contract by the company Mitie Care and Custody.
Image credit: UK GovernmentYou can download the 65-page report here.
The unannounced inspection was carried out in February and March of this year and it found that the removal centre "looked and felt like a prison", but was reasonably safe, decently run and delivering reasonable outcomes for detainees.
184 detainees were held at the IRC when HMI Prisons visited. Nearly all detainees at Colnbrook are held for less than a month before they are released into the community or deported. The report notes, however: "Given how many detainees were quickly released into the community, there is a question about why they had been placed in the centre in the first place. Furthermore, some distressed detainees who should have been released earlier as a result of physical and mental health problems were not served well by inadequate assessments in Rule 35 reports. A shortage of suitable accommodation meant that others continued to be detained even after being granted conditional bail."
A key concern raised in the report is an understaffed Home Office detention engagement team, which is criticised for providing an inadequate service and for not engaging routinely with detainees face to face.
The report states: "The Home Office detention engagement team (DET) was understaffed and had had limited face-to-face engagement with detainees during the pandemic. Efforts to address staff shortages were ongoing at the time of our inspection, but had not yet come to fruition. Many detainees also told us that they struggled to contact the DET by phone to get an update on their immigration case. In our survey, just 17% of detainees said it was easy to see Home Office staff and 30% that the Home Office was keeping them updated on their case. In our interviews with detainees, the lack of access to the Home Office and uncertainty about what was happening with their immigration case was a common concern and a major factor contributing to feelings of unsafety. Mitie staff had sometimes served immigration papers because of the lack of DET staff and were also frustrated at the difficulty in obtaining information from the Home Office for detainees."
HMI Prisons found most detainees at Colnbrook had reasonable access to legal visits and surgeries, though some detainees due to be removed on charter flights had limited access to the internet to communicate with their legal representatives at a critical time.
The report explains: "Legal visits could take place either in person or by video link, and legal advice surgeries took place several times a week and had adequate capacity. However, in our survey, only 54% of detainees said that they had been given information in a language they could understand about how to see immigration staff and get legal advice in their first two days at the centre, and some told us they were unsure about how to contact a legal representative. Some detainees who had been held on Echo Unit before chartered removal flights had had limited access to computers to email their legal representatives ahead of their planned removal. These detainees were only permitted to use computers for limited periods at specific times of the day, and some of those who we interviewed told us that this had caused them significant stress."
Health services at Colnbrook were found to be generally of a good standard, though there was a high number of staff vacancies in the mental health team. Detainees with lower level mental health needs lacked the needed support.
While data on detainees' vulnerabilities was not accurately recorded in some cases, HMI Prisons found the IRC's vulnerable adult care planning was good and indicated that detainees were supported well.
A survey of detainees by HMI Prisons found that a quarter of detainees said they had felt suicidal while in the centre. Forty-one incidents of self-harm occurred at the IRC in the six months prior to HMI Prisons' inspection. Two of the incidents were serious.
A third of detainees said they felt unsafe in Colnbrook. HMI Prisons added: "In our interviews, detainees cited factors such as fear of removal and the uncertainty associated with their immigration case as the main reasons for this."
Charlie Taylor, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, said in summing up the findings: "Overall, the centre was well led by an experienced team who generally provided good oversight of this reasonably safe and decently run centre. The centre had been let down by Home Office services that failed to communicate adequately with detainees or act with enough urgency, meaning that some cases dragged on unnecessarily to the detriment of detainees."