Morton Hall immigration removal centre had improved significantly since its previous inspection, with fewer people held for very long periods. The inspectorate’s report, published in March 2020, described a calmer centre with strong relationships between staff and detainees.
Peter Clarke, then HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, called it a largely positive report. He said staff from a range of agencies were doing a creditable job in reducing the potential harms of detention.
Inspectors visited between 28 October and 15 November 2019. At the time, Morton Hall was an immigration removal centre near Lincoln for adult men held under immigration powers. It was the only such centre that HM Prison and Probation Service still ran on behalf of the Home Office. It held 244 detainees, and one unit was out of use.
How the centre was graded
Inspectors judge immigration removal centres against four healthy establishment tests. These are safety, respect, activities, and preparation for removal and release. Each test receives a grade of good, reasonably good, not sufficiently good or poor.
Morton Hall scored reasonably good for safety. It scored good for respect, which covers how staff treat detainees and their living conditions. It also scored good for activities, which cover education, work and other ways to spend time usefully. Preparation for removal and release, which covers contact with family and advisers and planning for departure, scored good too.
The Chief Inspector of Prisons said safety had now reached reasonably good. However, most of the inspectors’ safety concerns from the previous visit in November 2016 remained.
One detainee, for example, had been held for over two years, which was unacceptable.
HM Inspectorate of Prisons report
Shorter detentions, but some still too long
Since 2016, the number of detainees had fallen by about a third, while staffing stayed roughly the same. The number held for over a year had dropped to five, compared with nearly 30 at the previous inspection. About two-thirds of detainees left within a month.
Inspectors said the smaller population and the fall in very long detentions had helped create a calmer atmosphere.
Uncertainty about immigration status still caused frustration. The report noted: “One detainee, for example, had been held for over two years, which was unacceptable.” Lengthy detention often stemmed from problems with documents, a lack of suitable accommodation or slow casework. One man had waited 11 months for an asylum decision.
Nearly a quarter of detainees arrived after serving prison sentences. Inspectors said the authorities should have resolved their cases during those sentences, without any need for immigration detention.
Vulnerability and self-harm
Inspectors found clear signs that many detainees were vulnerable. Levels of self-harm were high. In the previous six months, staff had placed over 40 detainees on constant supervision because of a risk of imminent self-harm or suicide.
Care for those at risk was generally good, and effective key working supported it. Each month, staff referred about 120 detainees to mental health services, and health care overall was good.
Rule 35 of the detention centre rules requires doctors to alert the Home Office when detention may harm a detainee’s health, or when someone may have suffered torture or has suicidal thoughts. In the six months before the inspection, doctors had submitted 173 reports about possible torture survivors. They had submitted none about suicide risk or other health concerns, a gap the report also found elsewhere.
Violence and use of force remained too high, though serious incidents were few. Staff paid much more attention to people covered by the Home Office policy on adults at risk in detention.
Daily life and what came next
In the report’s words, “A real strength of the centre was its staff-detainee relationships.” Most detainees spoke very positively about staff in confidential interviews. Consultation was good, and staff used interpreters very regularly.
The centre, however, still looked and felt far too much like the prison it had once been. Large quantities of razor wire added to this, and managers themselves accepted it was out of keeping with the calm atmosphere. Staff locked detainees in cells or on landings from 8.30pm.
At other times detainees could move freely and go outside easily on a fairly large, open site, unlike in most other centres. The range of activities was very good and open to everyone, but take-up was low. Inspectors said the centre needed to promote what it offered.
The charity Lincolnshire Action Trust ran a welfare service that detainees valued highly. Its well-qualified workers gave good support on arrival and before departure.
Morton Hall later stopped operating as an immigration removal centre and reopened as a prison for adult men in December 2021. Inspectors have reported on it again since, with a full inspection published in February 2024.
About this story
This story is based on HM Inspectorate of Prisons’ report on HMP Morton Hall, published on 10 March 2020, following an inspection that ended in November 2019. It covers an earlier inspection: the prison’s profile has the latest findings. All figures and judgements are the inspectorate’s. Read the full inspection report · See the prison’s profile in our directory.
