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Immigration Detention Inspections

43 inspections 30 facilities Avg safety 2.8 Avg respect 3.0 5 poor/not sufficient

HMIP Healthy Establishment assessments of 30 Immigration Removal Centres and Short-Term Holding Facilities. 43 inspections tracked. Data from hmiprisons.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk.

Key insights.

HMIP inspects IRCs using the same Healthy Establishment framework as prisons, scoring Safety, Respect, Activities, and Preparation for removal/release on a 1–4 scale.

5 of 43 inspections recorded safety scores of "Poor" or "Not sufficiently good" — indicating serious concerns about detainee welfare.

Highest-rated facility in the latest inspection is Dungavel IRC (Safety: 4/4); lowest-rated is Harmondsworth IRC (Safety: 1/4).

Direction of change: 2 improved, 2 declined in safety since the previous inspection.

Post-2022, HMIP shifted from numbered recommendations to key concerns (up to 15 per report). Across 43 inspections, 163 concerns have been raised. The Home Office responds via Service Improvement Plans.

Safety distribution · year-over-year average
Safety score distribution
Read chart figures as a table
Safety scores across indexed inspections
Safety gradeInspections
Poor1
Not suff.4
Reasonably good5
Good3
Average safety score by year
Read chart figures as a table
Safety scores by inspection year
YearMean safety score (1–4)Scored inspections
20193.01
20213.01
20222.333
20232.52
20241.52
20253.754

Facilities at a glance

Latest inspection per facility
Facility Safety Respect Activities Removal prep Trend Last inspected
Harmondsworth IRC 1 1 2 2 ↓ Declined Feb 2024
Brook House IRC 2 2 3 3 ↓ Declined Aug 2024
Yarl's Wood IRC 2 3 3 3 — Jun 2023
Colnbrook IRC 3 3 3 3 ↑ Improved Jan 2025
Morton Hall IRC 3 3 2 3 — Oct 2019
Tinsley House IRC 3 3 3 3 — Apr 2023
Derwentside IRC 4 4 4 4 Unchanged Sep 2025
Dungavel House IRC 4 4 3 4 — Aug 2025
Dungavel IRC 4 4 3 4 ↑ Improved Aug 2025
Scores: 4 = Good, 3 = Reasonably good, 2 = Not sufficiently good, 1 = Poor. — = not scored (IRP or STHF assessment).
Related inquiry: Brook House Inquiry — the statutory public inquiry into alleged mistreatment of detainees at Brook House IRC in 2017. HMIP inspections of Brook House are tracked here; the inquiry's formal recommendations are tracked separately.

Inspection records

43 matching inspections

Derwentside IRC

Immigration Removal Centre
Inspected 15 Sep 2025 Published 6 Jan 2026 Unannounced
Safety: 4 Respect: 4 Activities: 4 Removal prep: 4 15 concerns raised

Dungavel House IRC

Immigration Removal Centre
Inspected 1 Sep 2025 Published 1 Dec 2025 Unannounced

Dungavel House IRC

Immigration Removal Centre
Inspected 18 Aug 2025 Published 1 Dec 2025 Unannounced
Safety: 4 Respect: 4 Activities: 3 Removal prep: 4

Dungavel IRC

Immigration Removal Centre
Inspected 18 Aug 2025 Published 1 Dec 2025 Unannounced
Safety: 4 Respect: 4 Activities: 3 Removal prep: 4 17 concerns raised

Brook House IRC

Immigration Removal Centre IRP
Inspected 29 Jul 2025 Published 1 Sep 2025

Harmondsworth IRC

Immigration Removal Centre IRP
Inspected 17 Feb 2025 Published 8 Apr 2025

Colnbrook IRC

Immigration Removal Centre
Inspected 20 Jan 2025 Published 12 May 2025 Unannounced
Safety: 3 Respect: 3 Activities: 3 Removal prep: 3 22 concerns raised

Brook House IRC

Immigration Removal Centre
Inspected 5 Aug 2024 Published 18 Nov 2024 Unannounced
Safety: 2 Respect: 2 Activities: 3 Removal prep: 3 14 concerns raised

Harmondsworth IRC

Immigration Removal Centre
Inspected 12 Feb 2024 Published 9 Jul 2024 Unannounced
Safety: 1 Respect: 1 Activities: 2 Removal prep: 2 4 concerns raised

Yarl's Wood IRC

Immigration Removal Centre
Inspected 12 Jun 2023 Published 4 Oct 2023 Unannounced
Safety: 2 Respect: 3 Activities: 3 Removal prep: 3 42 concerns raised

Tinsley House IRC

Immigration Removal Centre
Inspected 17 Apr 2023 Published 7 Aug 2023 Unannounced
Safety: 3 Respect: 3 Activities: 3 Removal prep: 3 49 concerns raised