Yarl's Wood IRC

Yarl's Wood IRC is an immigration removal centre, operated by a private contractor, Serco Limited, on behalf of the Home Office under the Detention Centre Rules 2001. It is located outside the village of Clapham in Bedfordshire.

List of centre managers and assistants

• David Watson was centre manager of Yarl's Wood IRC for Group 4 from January 2001 to January 2003 during which time a major fire occurred.
• Joanne Henney was deputy centre manager for G4S from June 2003 to June 2006.
• James Wilkinson was contract director for Serco at Yarl's Wood IRC over 18 months from December 2010 to May 2012.
• Lisa Hooper was assistant director for Serco from October 2008 to June 2015 (ongoing)
• Victoria Murray was "Assistant Director (Business Assurance)" for Serco at Yarl's Wood IRC during 2010 and then deputy contract director there in 2011.

Senior staff

• Ian Scrupps was a business development manager for Serco from 2007 to July 2008, during which time he helped Serco transition onto their new contract for Yarl's Wood IRC.
• David Tanner is a Non Executive Director of the Yarl's Wood Immigration Centre Contract Board for Serco since 2013.

History

When Yarl's Wood was opened in 2001, it initially accommodated 900 people in two blocks, making it the largest immigration prison in Europe at the time. The management of the centre was contracted to Global Solutions Ltd. (GSL), which was then owned by Group 4 Amey Immigration Ltd, owned by Amey Assets Services Ltd and Group 4 Falck.

In February 2002, the prison was burnt down following a protest by detainees triggered by a 55-year-old woman being physically restrained by staff. When the fire started, the centre manager ordered all staff to exit the building, locking the detainees inside the timber-framed building. It later emerged that the government had also failed to install a sprinkler system. Although there was an investigation, no members of Group 4 were ever prosecuted.[1] The centre was closed and the burnt B site was demolished.

In September 2003, the undamaged half was re-opened after extensive rebuilding, with an initial capacity of 60. The centre's capacity was increased to 120 by August 2004 and to its full operational capacity of 405 by the end of 2005. The other half is still a waste land.

In April 2007, Serco Ltd took over the management, operation and maintenance of Yarl's Wood, for an initial period of three years, with optional extension to up to eight years. Over the full eight years, the contract is valued at around £85m.[2]

Under Serco, Yarl's Wood became the UK's main immigration removal centre for women and families (until the end of child detention in 2010), with 284 single female and 121 family bed spaces. The contract had been awarded in December 2006.[3] In May 2008, the Home Office announced it will take forward planning applications to create extra spaces at the centre as part of its plans for "large-scale expansion" of Britain's detention estate, but the plans were shelved due to lack of funds.[4]

There have been numerous hunger strikes, riots and other acts of resistance by detainees in Yarl's Wood over the years, the 2002 fire being the most famous one. In December 2001, just a month after the opening of the centre, the first hunger strike began with five Roma detainees refusing to eat. In November 2006, a group of detainees rioted after being denied watching a news report criticising conditions at the centre. In May 2007, a month after Serco took over the running of the centre, women detainees began a hunger strike in response to new measures introduced by the new management. Similar hunger strikes took place in June 2009 and February 2010. Both times detainees were reportedly met with violent assaults by Serco security guards attempting to break up the protests. In the latter, four of the women, singled out as 'ringleaders', were transferred to normal prisons and held under immigration detention, without charge, for almost a year.

Yarl's Wood consists of four units in a large, two-storey building. Until the detention of families was stopped in late 2010, there was a family unit (Crane), with a capacity of 121; a single women induction and first night unit (Bunting), with 42 beds; and two single women units (Avocet and Dove), with a capacity of 130 and 112 respectively. All Crane rooms, except one, are twin-bedded and interconnected in pairs to allow families to be located together. All Avocet and Dove rooms are twin-bedded, except for two single rooms in Avocet with some adaptations for people with disabilities. Most Bunting rooms, except three, are single. All rooms have simple en-suite toilet and shower facilities. The four units are connected by a central corridor, from which all ancillary areas, including the healthcare centre, can be accessed.

Detainees in Temporary Confinement (TC) under Detention Centre Rule 42 are held in the Kingfisher Separation Unit, in solitary cells called Removal From Association (RFA) rooms. Rooms in Bunting are also sometimes used for this purpose. During 2009, the Bunting RFA rooms were apparently converted into a 'family care suite'. During the second part of 2009, a new school building was constructed outside the main compound, formally opening in November that year. There is a Healthcare Centre on site, which provides primary healthcare for detainees, but is not always adequately staffed. Secondary care is referred - at least in theory - to the local Primary Care Trust.

Notes

[1] Stephen Shaw (Prisons and Probation Ombudsman), Report of the inquiry into the disturbance and fire at Yarl’s Wood Removal Centre, October 2004. http://www.ppo.gov.uk/docs/special-yarls-wood-fire-02.pdf.

[2] Serco, 'Serco to run Yarl's Wood immigration centre', http://www.serco.com/markets/homeaffairs/Copy_3_of_lowgrangerep.asp.

[3] Home Office, Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre, http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/organisation/immigrationremovalcentres/yarlswood.

[4] 'Yarl's Wood expansion put on hold', Bedford Today, 28 January 2010. http://www.bedfordtoday.co.uk/news/biggleswade-news/yarl_s_wood_expansion_put_on_hold_the_full_story_1_1099759.