On 9th July 2024, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) published a 68-page report following an unannounced inspection of the Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre. The information that has come to light from the inspection is extremely disturbing and raises questions about the Home Office’s use of immigration detention and management of its facilities.

The Inspectorate reported that the centre was dirty and dilapidated, rife with substance misuse and understaffed. It was also found that there had been numerous serious suicide attempts, with over 350 incidents of suicide and self-harm risks being logged. Mental health provisions were found to be under-resourced which can be especially difficult for people in this type of detention as they are typically extremely vulnerable, in some cases victims of torture and modern slavery. It is essential that the impact of detention on those most vulnerable is monitored.

Nearly two thirds of detainees informed the Inspectorate that they felt unsafe and the report noted that detainee assaults had more than doubled since the last inspection.

Immigration detention is supposed to be purely administrative; the law requires detention is only used where removal or deportation is reasonably imminent. Concerningly, the report highlights cases of detention exceeding 12 months and states that most detainees are released into the community instead of being removed from the UK, which indicates they were never suitable to be detained in the first place.

The UK remains the only nation in Europe without a legal maximum time limit on immigration detention, with Home Office leaders facing criticism for failing to provide consistent data on the average length of detention. The Home Office must ensure that detention is in line with their published policies, meaning it is of serious concern that the report found “policies and procedures to minimise the length of detention and protect the most vulnerable were not effective enough.” This indicates a systemic failing within the Home Office to properly assess who is, and crucially who is not, eligible and fit for immigration detention.

The report concludes by assessing the centre’s compliance with recommendations the HMIP made in their previous report. All six key recommendations that were made have not been achieved, with only a handful of other recommendations marked as achieved or partially achieved.

We believe that a Statutory Public Inquiry would be an effective way of uncovering the apparent systemic failure to consider the needs of the vulnerable minorities at Harmondsworth Centre. This could allow us to delve more into these clear public policy issues and would allow a chair to compel evidence from government officials and departments named in the report, like the Probation Services.

The Home Office’s failures with immigration removal centres have previously been examined in the Brook House Inquiry in 2017. The Chair’s report, published in September 2023, identified a “toxic culture” and “credible evidence” of breaches of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment. 

The Brook House Inquiry was also critical of the private contractors responsible for management of the removal facility. Harmondsworth is run by private company Mitie Care. The Inspectorate’s report describes that Mitie have a “shambolic retendering process” which created uncertainty surrounding management of the facility.

The report also questions “why so much taxpayer money was being spent keeping [detainees] locked up.” A public inquiry would allow for serious conversations about the Home Office’s use of taxpayer money and whether privatisation is effective and good value for money – especially when people’s lives are at risk.

The Chair for the Brook House Inquiry said, “the events that occurred at Brook House cannot be repeated.” The Inspectorate’s report into Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre indicates the Chair’s warning has fallen on deaf ears and highlights the possibility of a systemic failure to learn lessons within the Home Office.

You can find the full report and HMIPs findings here: Report on an unannounced inspection of Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons 12-29 February 2024 (cloud-platform-e218f50a4812967ba1215eaecede923f.s3.amazonaws.com)