Independent local coverage of a story with national significance, reported from official public documents and from statements provided to Consett Magazine.
Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre, on the outskirts of Consett, has again been the subject of an independent government report calling for its future to be reconsidered. This is the fourth year running that such a recommendation has been made.
Serco, which operates the centre, told Consett Magazine that Derwentside is “a very well-run removal centre” and pointed to a separate inspection that awarded it the inspectorate’s highest rating in every category.
What the report is
The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) is a statutory watchdog, part of the UK’s National Preventive Mechanism under the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT). Every immigration removal centre in the UK is required by law to have an IMB, made up of local volunteers with a right of access to the site, its records and the people detained there. The Board is independent of the Home Office, Serco and Practice Plus Group, the three organisations that between them run and provide healthcare at Derwentside.
The 2025 annual report, covering 1 January to 31 December 2025, was published in July 2026 following IMB visits every week of the year.
What the report found
The Board’s findings are mixed rather than one-sided.
On the positive side, the report describes a more settled atmosphere at the centre during 2025 than in previous years, with women reporting they generally feel safe. The report records that instances of self-harm and suicidal behaviour fell significantly compared with 2024, and the Board found safeguarding arrangements to be robust. Healthcare, welfare support and staff conduct were repeatedly praised, and the report notes no deaths in detention during the year.
The report also raises several ongoing concerns:
- Location and travel. The Board says Derwentside’s isolated site continues to result in long, sometimes overnight, journeys for women being transferred to and from the centre, and very low numbers of family visits, particularly from children.
- No time limit. The report states that the UK remains the only country in western Europe with no legal limit on how long someone can be held in immigration detention, and describes this as a repeat concern affecting women’s anxiety levels.
- Use of handcuffs. The report states that handcuffing appears routine when women are taken to hospital, which the Board says some women told it they found distressing.
- Staff gender balance. The report notes that a majority of staff at the centre are male, which it says can create practical difficulties given the need for female staff in certain situations, and which remains unresolved pending a Home Office decision on whether the site will start receiving men.
- Vulnerable detainees. According to the Board, a significant proportion of women held during the year were assessed under the Home Office’s own “adults at risk” framework, despite the improved day-to-day culture at the centre.
What Serco says
Serco has operated Derwentside under contract to the Home Office since September 2023. Responding to Consett Magazine on 20 July 2026, Michael Guy, Director of Derwentside IRC, said:
“Derwentside is a very well-run removal centre as this report, and the recent Prison Inspectorate report, show.”
“We are extremely proud that Derwentside IRC sets the benchmark for high standards in immigration detention, with our proactive staff focused on the welfare of the women we care for.”
Michael Guy, Director of Derwentside IRC
Serco noted that Derwentside received the highest available rating at its most recent inspection by HM Inspectorate of Prisons, carried out in February 2026 and published under the title “Derwentside IRC: a clear focus on women’s welfare driving positive outcomes”. The inspectorate assessed outcomes as good – the highest of its four ratings – across all four of its healthy establishment tests. That inspection separately identified concerns including overnight journeys, the handling of vulnerable women, female staffing levels and difficulties maintaining family contact.
On the specific points we put to the company, Serco said the centre’s remote location and the impact of overnight transfers were matters for the Home Office, as the IMB report itself indicates, and that the absence of a legal time limit on immigration detention is a policy question for the Home Office. Serco said the planned onsite vehicle base is likewise a Home Office matter, and that it expects wi-fi facilities to be in place this autumn.
What the Home Office has said
According to the report, the Home Office has not accepted the Board’s recommendation to reconsider Derwentside’s suitability as a detention site, stating that the detention estate is kept under ongoing review and that Derwentside continues to provide safe and secure facilities. The report says the recommendation to introduce a time limit on detention has also not been accepted, with the Home Office citing the risk of undermining its ability to remove people who have breached immigration law.
The report records that some recommendations have been accepted, including improvements to the site’s communications infrastructure and continued efforts to reduce night-time transfers via a planned onsite vehicle base, now expected in 2027.
Consett Magazine approached the Home Office for comment on the report’s findings ahead of publication. No response had been received by the time of publication.
The campaigners
On Saturday 18 July, between 12pm and 2pm, campaigners gathered at the centre’s gates for what organisers say was the sixtieth consecutive monthly protest since the campaign began five years ago. The demonstration was organised by No to Hassockfield, a local campaign group that has called consistently for the centre’s closure.
Dr Helen Groom, the group’s chairperson, said the latest IMB findings support the position the campaign has held since it began. Retired NHS mental health occupational therapist Amanda Mortimer also raised concerns about the detention of pregnant women and women with mental health histories, referencing practices highlighted in the report. These are the views of the campaign group and its supporters, and are reported here as such.
Background
Derwentside opened in November 2021 on the former Hassockfield Secure Training Centre site, previously Medomsley Detention Centre. It is the UK’s principal immigration removal centre for women, with capacity for 84. It has been run by Serco since September 2023, with Practice Plus Group holding the healthcare contract and Mitie Care & Custody providing escort and transfer services.
This is the fourth consecutive IMB annual report to recommend the Home Office reconsider the site’s suitability, following similar findings in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Sources
- Independent Monitoring Board Annual Report, Derwentside IRC, reporting year 2025, published July 2026 – imb.org.uk
- HM Inspectorate of Prisons, inspection of Derwentside IRC, February 2026 – justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons
- Serco statement to Consett Magazine, received 20 July 2026
- No to Hassockfield campaign – notohassockfield.org.uk
About this article. This report is based on the Independent Monitoring Board’s published annual report for Derwentside IRC (reporting year 2025), the February 2026 inspection by HM Inspectorate of Prisons, a written statement provided to Consett Magazine by Serco on 20 July 2026, and a public statement issued by campaigners. Findings attributed to the IMB or to HM Inspectorate of Prisons are those bodies’ own conclusions, quoted or summarised from their published reports, and have not been independently verified by Consett Magazine or Firefly New Media Ltd. Views attributed to Serco, to the Home Office, or to No to Hassockfield are those of the organisations named and do not represent the views of this publication. Consett Magazine approached both Serco and the Home Office for comment before publication; Serco responded on 20 July 2026 and its statement is reproduced in full above, and no response had been received from the Home Office by the time of publication. If any organisation named here wishes to add, correct or clarify anything in this article, contact editor@consettmagazine.com and we will consider and, where appropriate, publish a correction or update promptly.
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