IAPDC publishes report on priorities for a prevention of death strategy in Immigration Removal Centres
Today the Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody (IAPDC) publishes ‘Priorities for a prevention of deaths strategy in Immigration Removal Centres’ alongside the Home Office’s proposed Action Plan in response.
In 2018 the Home Office asked the IAPDC to provide advice on issues pertaining to deaths, ‘near misses’, and incidents of serious self-harm in immigration detention. The request was made in support of three recommendations relating to deaths in detention made by Stephen Shaw in his independent Review into the Welfare in Detention of Vulnerable Persons in 2016.
The IAPDC was provided with information from the Home Office relevant to these recommendations and supplemented this with additional research findings. Professor Seena Fazel, Professor of Forensic Psychiatry at the University of Oxford and an IAPDC member, gave advice on research and research priorities. The panel also consulted with staff members at Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre in November 2019.
The final report contains 24 specific deliverables for a Home Office strategy grouped into the following six themes:
Transform the transparency of policy, data and other information around deaths in the immigration estate to improve accountability and lessons learned.
Dedicate resource and focus on building a greater understanding of those at risk and scope for support from family and friends.
Reconsider the immigration population in the context of the impact of detention on the mental health of detainees
Take steps to ensure adequate healthcare provision to suit the needs and circumstances of the immigration population.
Provide staff with appropriate training, tools, and supervision to support detainees and identify signs of physical and mental health risk.
Improve learning processes and ensure public, independent, transparent investigation.
Minister Chris Philp MP, Minister for Immigration Compliance and Justice, has written to the IAPDC to outline ongoing work and next steps on the implementation of recommendations. The Home Office will be taking forward a range of proposed actions outlined in an Action Plan, also published today.