Recommendation 1
The holding rooms are not equipped for stays of over 24 hours and the Board would like to see the current 5% of people experiencing these long stays go down to pre-pandemic levels of 1%.
Source · IMB Annual Report
London STHF
AI-generated report summary This report covers the London Short-Term Holding Facilities at Heathrow and City Airports, and reporting facilities Becket and Eaton House for the reporting year ending January 2023. The Board found that while holding rooms generally provide a safe environment and most inductions were done well, significant concerns persist around excessive lengths of stay, inadequate facilities, and lack of access to internet and medication. Recommendations target the Minister, Home Office, Border Force, Mitie Care & Custody, and Clearsprings to address these issues, many of which are repeated from previous years.
Year: 2023
Published: 1 Aug 2023
Type: Prison · Cat STHF
Recommendations: 21
Key concerns
Positive findings
Safety statistics
| Indicator | This year | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Self-harm incidents | 0 | — |
| ACCT cases opened | 16 | — |
| Use of force | 8 | — |
Positive findings
AI-generated summaryThe Board noted that all holding rooms generally provide a safe environment, with vulnerable individuals and children regularly checked. Inductions were mostly to a high standard, and searches were sensitive. The 24/7 paramedic presence at Heathrow Airport is working well. Border Force officers and DCOs generally treated detainees with respect and kindness, with good practices observed. Information and multi-faith resources are available, and new toys for children have been provided.
Key concerns
Insufficient numbers of Border Force officers sometimes result in long waits in the controlled waiting areas. • Asylum seekers (adults and children) who have been bailed sometimes face long waits for the accommodation provider, Clearsprings, to pick them up. Unavailability of accommodation or transport is often given as the cause. • The holding rooms are not equipped for stays of over 24 hours, and the Board would like to see the number of people having these long stays, currently at 5%, go down to pre-pandemic levels of 1%.
Inadequate facilities and amenities including the absence of mattresses, frequently out-of-order showers, lack of toilet seats, child-sized benches for adults at City Airport, and insufficient temperature control in holding rooms.
Source wording under review
Lack of internet access still causes problems with translation devices and prevents passengers who struggle to communicate verbally from interacting with their environment. The promised internet trial has still not taken place. • Some wheelchair users were denied access to the holding rooms because C&C staff were not trained to lift and carry a disabled person in and out of a wheelchair.
Inconsistent and sometimes poor quality of induction for non-English speakers, failure to proactively offer translation services, not reminding detainees of their right not to disclose information, and DCOs not regularly engaging with detainees during long stays.
Source wording under review
Eaton House and City Airport urgently need a workable solution for administering personal medication. This issue has been raised for many years now.
Some wheelchair users were denied access to the holding rooms because C&C staff were not trained to lift and carry a disabled person in and out of a wheelchair.
Concerns regarding the lack of transparency, consolidated replies, and compassionate tone in the complaint handling process, with agencies denying ownership of issues.
Source wording under review
The Board has observed that some children had extended waits in the CWA. The facilities in the CWA do not compare with the environment in the family holding room and the Board would like to see these children accommodated in the holding room instead.
Recommendations
Recommendation 2
Eaton House and City Airport urgently need a workable solution for administering personal medication. This issue has been raised for many years now.
Response
The Home Office is committed to finding a workable and affordable healthcare solution for the remaining holding room estate.
Recommendation 3
The Board is of the opinion that a review of the complaints process is required to guarantee transparency of this process.
Recommendation 4
One person or a team should be made responsible for sending out a consolidated reply that incorporates all replies from all agencies to the complainant.
Recommendation 5
A more compassionate and personal reply to the complaints made would be welcomed.
Recommendation 6
The Board would like to see the promised improvements to the Terminal 5 family room and the showers for the main holding room delivered as soon as possible.
Response
HO continues to work with HAL regarding improvements to the facilities of T5.
Recommendation 7
As mentioned in last year's report, the maintenance of showers in all terminals should be prioritised so that they remain functional at all times.
Response
This matter has now been escalated to Ministry of Justice Estates (who assume responsibility for detained accommodation) to try and permanently resolve the issue with HAL.
Recommendation 8
The temperature problems in the holding rooms, both at London Heathrow and London City Airport, need to be resolved. The Board would like to see DCOs be given some form of control, either by being able to directly adjust the temperature or by asking someone to adjust the temperature at their request. The temperature problem in LCY was also raised in last year's report.
Response
The Home Office is aware of the temperature issues at LCY and continues to work with the airport to resolve the situation.
Recommendation 9
A solution needs to be found to give people waiting in the CWAs more privacy, and the CWA in T2 needs to be enlarged.
Recommendation 10
The Board has been asking for a replacement of the child-sized benches at City Airport and the provision of toilet seats in all terminal holding rooms for the last few years and we would like to see these issues finally resolved.
Recommendation 11
The Board would like to see a quick completion of the Wi-Fi trial in the holding rooms, so a decision can be made on how to introduce internet access.
Response
The Home Office has previously agreed to trial internet access in a holding room to properly assess the cost and practicability impacts. The specifics on how to achieve this are currently being discussed.
Recommendation 12
Delays and the unavailability of certain languages in the Big Word translation service need to be addressed.
Recommendation 13
Better coordination between establishments is required to ensure that payments for the facilitated return scheme (FRS) are being made.
Recommendation 14
The Board recommends that more officers be deployed at peak times to avoid unnecessarily extended periods of detention in the controlled waiting areas and in the holding rooms.
Response
Border Force will continue to deploy resource to risks. Border Force are recruiting more Officers to improve the number of people they can deploy to assist in minimising detention times, but this will take between six and twelve months to deliver the desired impact due to recruitment timelines.
Recommendation 15
We hope that BF has permanently addressed the situation where officers caused distress to detained people when conversing with each other in a language other than English, unknown to the detained person. The IMB identified two instances of this happening.
Recommendation 16
The Board has observed that some children had extended waits in the CWA. The facilities in the CWA do not compare with the environment in the family holding room and the Board would like to see these children accommodated in the holding room instead.
Recommendation 17
We repeat the recommendation that the detention contractor should ensure that DCOs use the Big Word interpretation service for inducting non-English-speaking passengers and that they should not assume that passengers with a limited grasp of English really understand what they are being told.
Response
C&C's policy regarding translation services details that all residents must be offered a translator upon arrival into custody. This is regardless of whether an officer believes that the level of English is of a sufficient standard or not. The Big Word telephone translation service will be used in the first instance, unless on rare occasion a qualified translator is physically present. If there is a situation where the Big Word is attempted but the required language is unavailable or the service cannot be obtained a translation tablet will then be used to aid the induction process. Translation tablets should only be used for shorter interactions whilst in C&C care and only used during the induction when all other options have been exhausted.
Recommendation 18
During inductions, detained people should be reminded that they have the right not to disclose certain information, such as marital status and religion in line with Rule 21 of STHF rules.
Recommendation 19
In past reports we have recommended that DCOs should be reminded to engage regularly with people during their long periods of detention because people do not remember everything they have been told during their induction. This year again, we observed people who would have benefitted from a reminder of what is available to them in the holding rooms.
Recommendation 20
The Board would like to see C&C staff trained to deal with wheelchair users, to ensure that detained people with disabilities have equal access to the facilities available in the holding rooms.
Recommendation 21
We would like to see shorter collection waiting times for those seeking asylum.
Response
No comment received
Other reports for London STHF
· Concerns