'Worst ever' conditions in immigration detention: Prisons inspector annual report sounds alarm

One man was held in detention for two years in "the worst conditions and treatment that we have seen" at Harmondsworth, His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales noted in an alarming report published yesterday

• Report highlights "concerns over safety and conditions" at Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs) with health services "stretched to breaking point"
• Harmondsworth IRC was particularly appalling, with a "serious suicide attempt" during inspection amid "high level of unmet mental health need" despite repeated warnings
• Inspectors "were taken aback by the living conditions" and "decrepit" residential unit
• People were held unnecessarily in these conditions: one man was detained for over two years, and only one-third of people detained were eventually deported

In the annual inspection into prisons and immigration detention, Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor noted extremely concerning conditions in the UK's detention centres. Inspections at two - Harmondsworth IRC and Brook House IRC - led him to sound the alarm in the report published on 8 July 2025, which covers the period from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. We call your attention to the following excerpts:

Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor writes in the report:

"We inspected Harmondsworth and Brook House, two large IRCs capable of holding around 1,000 people between them. Both centres held more detainees than they could effectively manage and neither was providing good enough care."

"At Harmondsworth we found the worst conditions and treatment that we have seen at an IRC. This was despite repeated warnings at two previous critical inspections. Action to support people at risk of self-harm was poor and there was another serious suicide attempt while we were on site."

"Inspectors were taken aback by the living conditions, especially on the older living units, where there was an air of neglect, with broken windows, missing or broken toilet seats and shower doors, dirty and messy cells and corridors."

At Harmondsworth IRC: "Home Office leaders had sanctioned the closure of one dilapidated residential wing for refurbishment, but another equally decrepit unit remained in use."

At Brook House IRC: "The centre did not have enough space or experienced staff to manage an increasingly vulnerable population. We were also concerned to find a deterioration in health services that were stretched to breaking point."

“A longstanding and fundamental problem was that all immigration detainees at Brook House, who should be held in relaxed conditions with minimal restrictions, were instead in an institution that looked and felt like a prison."

"Despite administrative immigration detention being a last resort that should not be used unless people can be removed reasonably quickly, only around a third of detainees at each site were deported. Over half were released, often after avoidable and stressful periods of detention. At Harmondsworth, one man was detained for over two years (confirmed following publication of the inspection report) and at Brook House one man was held for over 500 days."

Charlotte Buckley, Director at Bail for Immigration Detainees says: 

“No one should be forced to endure these alarming conditions in detention. The report reflects what we see regularly from supporting our clients in detention, that people suffer atrocious living conditions without adequate support, pushing many to severe distress, self-harm and suicide attempts. The government must stop putting people in these harmful situations, especially when it is arbitrary and unnecessary.

According to UK law, immigration detention should only be used for the purposes of removal or deportations. Yet as the report highlights, people are held indefinitely in these appalling conditions. With the legal aid in crisis, most people do not have access to legal advice, let alone justice. Through our work supporting people to successfully challenge their detention, we know that people should never have been detained in the first place. Yet each year tens of thousands undergo this cruelty, and the damage is deep and longlasting. 

It is unconscionable that in light of clear and condemning evidence of  harm, the government is seeking to expand immigration detention by reopening two previously shut down sites. It is particularly outrageous that Mitie, the company responsible over these 'worst ever conditions' at Harmondsworths, have just been awarded a £140 million contract to manage Campsfield IRC, a closed centre that the government is seeking to reopen. We must end the harm of detention. We urge the government to instead invest in supporting people in our communities.”