To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance they follow in assessing whether a place of immigration detention is appropriate.
Answered on
26 May 2023
The Illegal Migration Bill creates new detention powers which will allow the Home Secretary to detain a person pending a decision as to whether they meet the four conditions and the new duty to remove applies, and thereafter to detain pending their removal.
All Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs) must operate in compliance with the Detention Centre Rules 2001, this includes any additional sites that are opened as IRCs to increase detention capacity.
The purpose of rule 35 of the Detention Centre Rules 2001 is to ensure that people in detention who are particularly vulnerable are brought to the attention of those with direct responsibility for authorising, maintaining and reviewing detention. This rule applies to all people who are detained under immigration powers in IRCs, regardless of the immigration power they are detained under. Rule 35 is a reporting mechanism, and where a report is completed, it does not automatically mean that the person should be released.
An individual’s placement in detention is considered on a case-by-case basis with account to the most suitable IRC that can meet their needs. Our Detention: General Instructions provides guidance on this process.
We only detain persons for immigration purposes in places that are listed in the Immigration (Places of Detention) Direction 2021.