Harmondsworth IRC

Harmondsworth IRC is an immigration removal centre.

Introduction

Harmondsworth opened in 1970 as a small detention facility near Heathrow airport. Over the years it has expanded and become the largest detention site in Europe.

It was initially run by Securicor. In 1988 Group 4 took over the management of Harmondsworth. The centre was run by Burns International from 1999 to 2001, before Sodexho subsidiary UK Detention Services (UKDS) started an eight year contract worth £180m in 2001. (In 2006 UKDS was rebranded as Kalyx). The Geo Group UK ran Harmondsworth from June 2009 until September 2014 when it was taken over by Mitie Care and Custody and 'merged' with Colnbrook IRC to form what is sometimes called Heathrow IRC.

List of centre managers

• Joanne Henney from June 2009 to November 2012
• Alan Hunt from December 2012 to December 2013
• Paul Morrison from September 2014

1970-1987 Securicor

Securicor ran Harmondsworth after it opened. In 1978, parliament was told that "Discipline is kept to the minimum necessary to ensure the safe custody of detainees and the trouble-free running of the centres. Detainees are informed of the facilities available for telephone calls, meals and medical care. Securicor staff are required to comply with any lawful instructions given by an immigration officer or the Home Office and are told that they must treat detainees with humanity, kindness, courtesy and sympathetic understanding. Securicor is responsible, under contract, to the Home Office for the performance of its duties in connection with Immigration Act detainees."

In 1987, immigration minister David Waddington told Parliament that: "The estimated daily cost of detaining a person in immigration service detention centres, including Harmondsworth, is £115. This figure includes transport, escort and running costs, and the cost of employing staff from Securicor Ltd. The cost per day of detaining a person held under the Immigration Act 1971 in a prison department establishment, though not entirely comparable, is estimated at £34."

1988-1998 Group 4

By 1988, Group 4 had taken over the running of Harmondsworth from Securicor. (These companies would later merge to form G4S).

In 1988, an MP asked "the Secretary of State for the Home Department:

• "(1) what experience the company Group 4 had demonstrated in running a secure holding centre or prisons prior to being offered the contract for Harmondsworth holding centre;
• (2) what procedure is followed to vet the staff of private security firms who work at Harmondsworth holding centre; and how these (a) were applied to Securicor employees and (b) will be applied to Group 4 employees;
• (3) what measures will be taken to ensure that a smooth changeover of management will be secured at Harmondsworth holding centre when Securicor hand over the running to Group 4;
• (4) what were his reasons for deciding (a) to terminate the contract between the Home Office and Securicor for the management and staffing of Harmondsworth holding centre and (b) to award the contract to Group 4;
• (5) how many of those held at Harmondsworth holding centre have escaped in the time that it has been under the management of Securicor."

The immigration minister Tim Renton replied that: "The contract for the provision of Group 4 staff at the Harmondsworth, Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester immigration detention units was awarded to the company following receipt of competitive tenders. The decision took account of a number of factors, including value for money and a detailed evaluation of the company's ability to provide the high quality of service specified.

The nature of the contract is unique in the United Kingdom and only Securicor Ltd. has so far had direct experience in this area. But Group 4 is a company of high standing. The tendering exercise enabled it to demonstrate satisfactorily its ability to provide a reliable service. Both Securicor Ltd. and Group 4 Total Security Ltd are members of the British Security Industry Association which lays down rigorous recruitment and vetting standards. Both companies fully meet those standards, including the vetting of candidates over a period extending back 20 years.

A series of meetings has been arranged between immigration service officials and senior managers within both Securicor and Group 4 to ensure a smooth transition. These discussions and detailed arrangements are progressing well. Responsibility for managing the detention units will not alter as a result of the change in contractor; that will remain firmly with the Home Office.

In 1987, 78 persons absconded from immigration service detention units; in 1988 up to 31 October the figure is 75. Figures for earlier years are not readily available. These details were not included in the factors taken into account when awarding the contract of Group 4."

2001-2006 UK Detention Services

Sodexho-subsidiary UKDS started running Harmondsworth in 2001. It held 550 people, including children as young as 4 years old.

It was alleged at the time of commencing the contract that Sodexho planned for asylum-seekers at Harmondsworth to work for almost nothing so that the company could cut its operating costs. A Home Office document obtained by the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns, showed that the Government intended to suspend the minimum wage at Harmondsworth so that Sodexho could pay asylum seekers £12 a week, which works out at 34p an hour (92% below the minimum wage) to do the work of painters, cleaners and caterers. If they refused work but complied with an 'agreed activity programme', they would be paid £6. If they refused to cooperate at all, they would be given £4 for cleaning their rooms. The scheme did not proceed at that time.

On February 22, 2002, The London Times reported that nine detainees escaped from Harmondsworth, breaking a window, scaling a 15’ fence and using towels to get over the razor wire surrounding the facility.

In a report that came out in March 2003, the prisons inspectorate expressed “deep concern” about detainees with mental health problems being held at Harmondsworth.

An inspection of Harmondsworth made by the Chief Inspector of Prisons in September 2003 said that:

"There were increasing levels of disorder, damage and escape attempts, with an average of seven assaults a week. In spite of an average of one self-harm incident a week, suicide, self-harm and anti-bullying procedures were not effectively managed. Nor was there sufficient mental health support for detainees held in the in-patient ward.”

In conclusion, the report stated: “Harmondsworth, when we inspected it, did not meet three of our four tests for a healthy custodial environment.”

A recent inquest into the death of Ukrainian asylum seeker Sergey Baranyuk provided a glimpse of how asylum seekers are treated behind the closed doors of removal centres in the UK – detained, forgotten and slowly driven to despair.

In July 2004, a Ukrainian asylum-seeker Sergey Baranyuk was found hanged in a shower room at Harmondsworth. His death sparked a night of disturbances at the centre and all of the detainees were transferred out of the damaged centre.

2006-2009 Kalyx

In October 2006, Sodexho changed the name of UK Detention Services to Kalyx.

In November 2006, a major riot took place at Harmondsworth, after the chief inspector of prisons issued her "poorest ever" report on a detention centre.

In December 2006, Kalyx was fined £5,096,000 by the Home Office for performance failures.

"Neither Kalyx nor the Home Office would be drawn on why the company has had to pay such a sizeable sum. But [Home Office minister Baroness] Scotland suggested it was at least partly to do with the company's failure to manage the centre properly.

She told the Lords that 'rigorous attempts to manage the situation in Harmondsworth' had now been put in place. 'That was the basis of the concerns expressed and of the disagreement... between management,' Scotland said. ... A Home Office spokeswoman confirmed Kalyx would soon be paying out. 'The Immigration and Nationality Directorate has been in dispute with HDSL (a subsidiary of Kalyx) over its contractual performance at Harmondsworth,' the spokeswoman said. 'The dispute reached mediation point in summer 2006 and reached an agreed settlement; the details of this are being finalised by lawyers with full completion anticipated by the end of this month.'"