Recommendation 1
Introduce a time limit for immigration detention.
Source · IMB Annual Report
Gatwick IRC
AI-generated report summary The Independent Monitoring Board for Gatwick IRCs reported a volatile environment in 2025, with concerns about detainee safety, high lock-up times, and inadequate healthcare provision. Key issues included significant delays in legal support and bail accommodation, and systemic failures in safeguarding vulnerable individuals, especially those affected by Operation Hillmore. Despite some improvements in clinical governance and welfare support, the Board highlighted numerous areas where the centres failed to meet expected standards for fair and humane treatment.
Year: 2025
Published: 2 Sep 2026
Type: IRC · Cat IRC
Population: 406
Recommendations: 14
Key concerns
Positive findings
Safety statistics
| Indicator | This year | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths in custody | 0 | 1 |
| Prisoner assaults | 76 | 86 |
| Assaults on staff | 129 | 180 |
| Use of force | 557 | 785 |
| Drug finds | 21 | — |
Positive findings
AI-generated summaryThe Board noted positive improvements in clinical governance, particularly medication reconciliation, and effective health promotion events. General cleanliness and laundry maintenance improved, and food satisfaction was high. Welfare officers and many staff members received praise for their supportive and helpful engagement with detainees. Refurbishment projects positively impacted living conditions and Rule 40 reviews were generally better structured.
Key concerns
Gatwick IRCs were relatively volatile environments in 2025, with serious incidents continuing to occur routinely and men's self-reported feeling of being unsafe remaining a serious concern. Rates of self-harm were generally higher than in the previous year, with significant spikes.
Reception processes are information-heavy and overwhelming, exacerbated by insufficient interpretation, inadequate provision of documents in understood languages, and confusion among new arrivals, particularly asylum seekers under Operation Hillmore.
Source wording under review
Men are sometimes kept waiting too long in arrival vehicles, which is uncomfortable, unnecessary, and undignified.
Source wording under review
Interpretation, including sign language, is not used sufficiently or consistently, with the Serco-contracted service, Big Word, being of inconsistent quality and difficult to access.
Source wording under review
Medical screenings are inadequate to detect vulnerabilities, especially mental health issues, with vastly insufficient uptake of Rule 34 assessments due to a lack of understanding of their purpose.
Source wording under review
Insufficient numbers of men are assessed for deterioration or suicidality under Rules 35(1) and 35(2), and Rule 35 reports rarely lead to release.
Source wording under review
A blanket approach of deploying a fully kitted team for every planned use of force intervention is unfair.
Men are often detained for months despite vulnerability and deterioration, due to a default position of managing risks rather than considering release, leading to harm.
Source wording under review
Detention without a time limit is unfair and inhumane.
An accountability gap exists due to the lack of presence and poor responsiveness of probation services and DDAS legal aid firms.
Source wording under review
Slow approval of bail addresses by probation services causes substantial delays in releasing men granted bail, undermining their legal rights and causing widespread frustration.
Source wording under review
Concerning staff behaviour persists, including allegations of physical assault and use of dehumanising language like referring to men as ‘cases’.
Source wording under review
The routine use of handcuffs in 97% of medical escorts is unfair, stigmatising, and lacks dignity, with its categorisation as ‘consensual’ being disingenuous.
Source wording under review
A significant increase occurred in the use of separation under Rule 40 and Rule 42 at Brook House.
Source wording under review
The length of time some men spend on Rule 40 is too long.
Separation is used too often and for too long to manage the challenging behaviour of very vulnerable men, despite guidance that it should not be a routine response for mental health problems.
Source wording under review
Rule 40 reviews, while improved, still suffer from inconsistent interpretation and concerning staff tone.
Source wording under review
Delays in facilitating voluntary returns cause frustration and distress for men who have agreed to go home.
Heavy pressure on limited IT equipment creates competition between leisure use and immigration case progression.
Source wording under review
Too many men with severe mental health issues are still being detained for too long, requiring improved safeguards to prevent detention or ensure rapid release.
Source wording under review
Lock-up times are too long, with men locked in their rooms for 12 hours daily, which the Board considers inhumane.
Space constraints hinder healthcare provision, compromising safety and confidentiality during renovations at Tinsley House.
Source wording under review
Toilets and showers in unrefurbished areas remain grimy and unpleasant despite overall acceptable cleanliness and welcome refurbishments.
Source wording under review
Men vape freely throughout the buildings, and more effort is needed to restrict vaping to permitted areas.
Source wording under review
While men are generally satisfied with food and dietary needs are met, there should be better provision of fresh fruit and vegetables.
Source wording under review
The standard of healthcare provision is very concerning, with promised investments failing to deliver key improvements in staffing, culture, mental health support, and waiting times, as evidenced by numerous detainee complaints.
Source wording under review
Approximately 12% of arriving men did not receive a health screening on arrival.
Only about 35% of men receive a Rule 34 health assessment within 24 hours, largely due to poor understanding of its purpose, not informed consent.
Source wording under review
Waiting times for Rule 35 assessments are unacceptably long, rising to 28 days and rendering this safeguard ineffectual.
Source wording under review
Healthcare communication with detained men is poor, with reports of unawareness or short-notice scheduling of appointments.
Source wording under review
Insufficient and/or poor use of interpretation in healthcare settings jeopardizes men's safety and wellbeing.
The long-promised dental suite has not materialised, and the interim mobile service receives numerous complaints about quality and interpretation issues.
Source wording under review
Too many men with mental health vulnerabilities are detained for excessive periods, with insufficient psychological or psychosocial support, focusing primarily on monitoring and medication.
Source wording under review
Mental health provision at Gatwick focuses on monitoring and containing distress, primarily through medication, but there is insufficient psychological or psychosocial support.
Only a small proportion of men participate in education or training.
Source wording under review
Men report persistent difficulties in communicating with case owners, with mandatory monthly reports often delayed, missing, or inaccurate.
Source wording under review
A chronic problem of delayed and inadequate access to legal representation persists for detained men, with lawyers failing to respond or follow up promptly.
Source wording under review
Some men are detained for excessively long periods, primarily due to delays in obtaining emergency travel documents, with the longest stayer detained for over two years.
Source wording under review
Access to legal support and family contact is negatively impacted by poor signal quality and account issues with the new smartphones.
Men continue to experience long delays in bail accommodation approval, citing poor communication and follow-up from the Probation Service, with a pilot project showing no apparent impact.
Source wording under review
Delays in progressing voluntary returns cause great distress, with some men experiencing the death of family members while awaiting departure.
Source wording under review
The Home Office was inadequately prepared for Operation Hillmore arrivals, providing insufficient information, delayed translations, and lacking enough DET staff to manage queries.
Source wording under review
PPG was unprepared and lacked capacity for Operation Hillmore arrivals, struggling with the high numbers of vulnerable men with complex medical histories and limited English.
Source wording under review
The indiscriminate selection process for Operation Hillmore removals put vulnerable men at risk, including children and victims of torture who should not have been detained.
Source wording under review
Recommendations
Recommendation 2
Review how key mechanisms intended to safeguard detained men operate together to make any necessary changes to ensure that they provide effective outcomes: detention gatekeeper, healthcare arrival screening, Rule 34 assessments, Rule 35 processes, assessment, care in detention and teamwork (ACDT) plans (used to monitor detained people at risk of self-harm), vulnerable adult care plan (VACP) processes, and adults at risk policies and process.
Recommendation 3
Operate with a presumption of release in cases of vulnerability, considering not just whether vulnerabilities can be accommodated in detention but also at what cost to the detained man.
Recommendation 4
Ensure that communication with detained men is clear and transparent, including through provision of adequate and appropriate interpretation, and training and support to staff in working with interpreters. Ensure that documents are provided in a language that detained men understand.
Recommendation 5
Ensure there is a quality assurance system and accountability mechanism for probation services and the detained duty advice scheme, which ensures men have meaningful access to legal support and do not suffer unreasonable delays in the progression of their cases.
Recommendation 6
Revise lock-in times to provide detained men with more association time.
Recommendation 7
Eliminate unnecessary delays as far as possible in immigration case decision-making and travel booking and work with the Probation Service to improve timeliness in bail accommodation approval.
Recommendation 8
Establish reliable systems to ensure that men receive their monthly reports on time and can raise any issues or rectify errors quickly and easily.
Recommendation 9
Review, in conjunction with Practice Plus Group, the appropriateness of risk assessments carried out prior to planned use of force by kitted teams, and establish clear protocols and guidance that appropriately balance the physical and psychological risks to staff and to detained men.
Recommendation 10
Record all hospital escorts involving handcuffs as use of force incidents, even where they are presented as consensual.
Recommendation 11
Review the mechanisms for informing and encouraging detained men to take up the offer of a Rule 34 appointment, as these are a vital safeguard, greatly increasing the likelihood of the detection of vulnerabilities.
Recommendation 12
Provide suitable training and support to ensure that all healthcare staff, including GPs, are clear about their obligations under Detention Centre Rule 35, and understand how these are to operate.
Recommendation 13
Ensure that suitable training and support is provided so that professional interpretation services are used effectively in communications with detained men, particularly during critical safeguards such as initial screening and Rule 34 and 35 appointments.
Recommendation 14
Provide more transparency about healthcare complaints and shorter timeframes for response. Provide adequate information to allow the IMB to assess the nature of the complaints and the effectiveness and efficiency of this complaints process.
Applications to the IMB
| Category | Current | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation including laundry, showers | 10 | 15 |
| Bail and bail accommodation | 12 | 27 |
| Equality | 5 | — |
| Finance including detained people’s centre accounts | 3 | 2 |
| Food and kitchens | 21 | 5 |
| Issues relating to detained people’s immigration case, including access to legal advice | 101 | 94 |
| Letters, faxes, visits, phones, internet access | 10 | 6 |
| Other | 24 | 9 |
| Property during transfer or in another establishment or location | 6 | 4 |
| Property within centre | 12 | 7 |
| Purposeful activity including education, paid work, training, library, other activities | 7 | 2 |
| Staff/detained people conduct, including bullying | 26 | 26 |
| Use of force, removal from association | 4 | — |
Other reports for Gatwick IRC
· Concerns
· Concerns
Population 107
· Concerns