Points of Disappearance! - *'Short term holding centres'

Anne Ower's Chief Inspector of Prisons has published to day her findings of an inspection of four short-term holding centres. Global Solutions Limited (GSL) manages all four centres and all four are subject to criticism by the inspector. Dallas Court in Manchester came in for the most criticism; GSL were found wanting in 16 areas at
the centre.

For asylum seekers, reporting at 'short term holding centres' is normally the first and last link in the chain to detention and eventual deportation to potentially unsafe countries. Each time they go to report they never know if they will be one of the ones arrested, detained and removed - If they will ever see their friends and family here again.

The fear of being separated from their family, detained for an indefinite period and finally deported, is a constant source of stress. The management of the centres is in the hands of GSL. Each asylum seeker detained there brings profit to GSL.

Ms. Owers makes recommendations to the Government, the
Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) and to the centre contractors GSL.

*'Short term holding Centres' are attached to reporting
centres, and hold those who have come to make claims, or report to immigration officers, or who have been picked up in enforcement operations.

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The four short-term holding facilities are: Communications House, London, Lunar House, Croydon, Electric House, Croydon, Dallas Court, Manchester

Below selected extracts from the report (attached):

The first and most important finding of our inspections is that there is little external supervision or regular monitoring of these centres;

There were other deficiencies, common to all centres.

There was inadequate, or no, access to telephones, to inform
relatives and friends of the fact of detention.

No centres had child protection policies.

Training in self-harm and suicide prevention was inadequate;

No centre had approved fire or health and safety policies or procedures.

There was too little for detainees to do, or read.

No arrangements for detainees to arrange to recover or dispose of their property: aggravated by their inability to communicate by telephone.

There were particular problems in two centres. Dallas Court, at Manchester, is primarily used as a transit holding area for detainees being transferred between the north and south of the UK. The holding room was unfit for purpose: a cramped and shabby room was used to hold men, women and children.

Moreover, there was insufficient oversight of some detainees in transit. Some arrived in the evening, after custody staff had left. Immigration staff were not informed about transit detainees and on one occasion discovered a young woman, held for six hours, who had recently miscarried and was at risk of suicide. We recommend that detainees must always be placed in the direct care of a responsible staff member.

Lunar House is the main route through which families are detained at Oakington Reception Centre. In spite of this, it had inadequate child protection procedures, and staff were not alert to the need to ensure that agreed safeguards on the detention of children were implemented.

These reports underline the importance of independent inspection of these facilities. Though they hold people for only short periods, they do so at a time of considerable stress, when detainees are suddenly cut off from the rest of the world. In these unannounced inspections, we found that staff were alert to these anxieties. However, these reports point to the reforms in procedure and practice that are needed to ensure they are safe and decent environments.
Above all, they point to the need for regular oversight of these centres, both by senior managers and independent visitors.