Inspection of women-only immigration removal centre highlights poor quality Rule 35 reports and unreasonably prolonged cases
A new inspection report of the women-only Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) in County Durham was published this week by His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales (HMI Prisons).
You can download the 50-page report here.
The report follows an unannounced inspection of Derwentside carried out between mid-September and early October 2025. At the time of the inspection, 55 women were detained, out of a certified normal capacity of 84. The largest nationality groups were Chinese, Brazilian and Polish women.
Overall, HMI Prisons finds that the facility is delivering generally positive outcomes for those held there, driven by a strong emphasis on welfare, respectful treatment and purposeful activity. Progress had been made on many concerns identified in an earlier 2022 inspection, particularly around safety and access to activities, although not all issues had been fully resolved.
Living conditions at Derwentside were described as very good, with clean, well-maintained accommodation and efforts to soften what might otherwise feel like an institutional environment. Communal areas were designed to encourage interaction, and inspectors reported a sense of pride among both staff and detainees. Relationships between staff and women were consistently identified as a strength. Most detainees said they were treated with respect and felt able to approach staff for help, supported by an established key worker scheme.
Purposeful activity formed another significant part of the IRC's approach. Women had access to education, work opportunities, arts and crafts, and fitness activities, with timetables translated into several languages. The library functioned as a social hub, offering internet access, books and regular activities, often linked to national or international events.
A cultural kitchen, allowing detainees to cook and share food from their own traditions, was particularly valued and was said to contribute to a sense of community. However, food was the most common complaint amongst detainees and a survey by HMI Prisons found that only 36% of women said they had enough to eat compared to 54% at other IRCs.
Health care provision was found to be robust and responsive. Inspectors noted a skilled and settled health team, strong mental health support and proactive health promotion. Information about services and wellbeing was widely available in multiple languages, and women reported timely access to specialist care when needed. In HMI Prisons' survey of detainees, 85% of respondents reported that the quality of health care was good, compared to 59% in other IRCs.
Less positively, inspectors highlighted concerns about the safeguarding of vulnerable women, particularly in the way vulnerability was identified and acted upon before detention. Although information-sharing within the centre had improved and weekly adults-at-risk meetings were well attended, HMI Prisons found repeated cases in which the Home Office failed to recognise or give sufficient weight to clear indicators of risk when deciding to detain women. These included women with acute mental illness, histories of sexual exploitation and modern slavery, and those who were pregnant. In several cases, women were detained despite presenting with severe mental health symptoms or having already disclosed abuse, with safeguarding protections only triggered after they arrived at Derwentside.
Inspectors also highlighted weaknesses in the Rule 35 safeguarding process, noting delays, poor-quality reports and a sharp fall in the proportion of reports leading to release compared with the previous inspection.
The report states: "The quality of Rule 35 reports was worse than we usually see. For example, some particularly traumatic incidents were described with none of the detail required in the reporting process and comment on the impact of further detention was generally weak. Home Office Rule 35 responses were timely. In most cases, it accepted that mistreatment met the definition of torture but maintained detention. In three cases, the Home Office did not assess the report because the detainee had been released, although an assessment could have informed any future decision to detain."
Concerns were also identified in the management of self-harm and suicide risk. While levels of serious self-harm were low and many women reported receiving support when feeling suicidal, inspectors found gaps in practice that risked undermining this progress. There were too few female officers on residential units, resulting in male staff carrying out overnight welfare and self-harm checks on women, including some for whom male contact was a known trigger linked to past abuse.
HMI Prisons found that staff on the units lacked sufficient mental health awareness and trauma-informed training, and care plans for vulnerable women were often too generic to address individual risks. Inspectors concluded that, although recent initiatives to improve monitoring and prevention showed promise, they were not yet embedded in day-to-day practice and needed stronger leadership and oversight to ensure the safety of the most vulnerable detainees.
With regard to legal rights, inspectors found that detention at Derwentside was generally shorter than in many comparable immigration removal centres, but that this did not always reflect efficient case progression. The average length of detention was 25 days, and while the longest individual detention of 162 days was considered excessive, it was still shorter than those seen in other IRCs. Despite this, many women described frustration and confusion about delays in their cases, particularly when they had expressed a clear wish to return to their home countries and were cooperating fully with the process.
HMI Prisons said: "In our casework sample, cases had become unreasonably prolonged for a variety of reasons, including poor case progression and a lack of travel documentation. In one case, it had so far taken over three months for the Home Office to make a deportation decision. In another case, there was a delay of two-and-a-half months when the Home Office did not take a detainee to a court hearing, which then had to be adjourned. In one clear case of unlawful detention, a woman was detained despite officials in the detention gatekeeping team refusing to authorise detention. She was held for four days before being released homeless."
Access to legal advice was found to be generally good, with most women having a lawyer and reporting that they could contact them easily, supported by regular legal aid surgeries at the centre. However, inspectors raised concerns about the lack of translated legal documents, noting that a majority of detainees had limited understanding of written English, which made it difficult for them to understand their cases.
Preparation for release or transfer was generally handled with care. Women leaving Derwentside were given practical assistance, including travel warrants, translated information booklets and help with onward journeys. Staff also supported access to voluntary return schemes and maintained contact with families and support networks where possible. The visits team was praised for proactively contacting visitors in advance to explain procedures and answer questions. However, in the 12 months before HMI Prisons' inspection, five detainees had been released homeless, including a woman who had previously been sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
In his concluding remarks, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, emphasised the IRC's strengths while acknowledging the need for further improvement. He said: "Derwentside stands as an example of what can be achieved through committed leadership, dedicated staff, and a clear focus on the welfare of those in detention. While there remain areas for improvement, the centre's strengths and positive practices provide a solid foundation for continued progress. All those involved should be commended for their hard work and encouraged to build on these achievements going forward."