Concerns over the lack of hot water, soap and toilet facilities at immigration detention facilities at Portsmouth

A report by the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) looked at the short-term holding facilities (STHFs) across the south of the country, as well as monitoring the welfare of those in the detention facilities who are placed there while initial enquiries are carried out about their immigration status. This could then result in them being released if they met immigration requirements, or passed to the Home Office or another case office if required.

There were 63 detentions in Portsmouth from February 1 2024 to January 31 2025. But the report revealed that between April to December 2024, 12 unaccompanied children were detained in Portsmouth aged ten and over, 11 of which were from Sudan and with nine of the children needing an interpreter.

All except two children were referred to social services and had their cases managed by a safeguarding and modern slavery officer. Another man also presented themselves to officials as a child, but this was found not to be the case.

The report said: “None were detained for less than four hours; seven children were held for between four and less than six hours; five children were held for between six and less than 12 hours; and one was detained for over 12 hours, which was the longest detention, at 12 hours and 42 minutes. This was the person who was later assessed as an adult.”

The report outlines that there are two short-term holding rooms in Portsmouth, which are overseen by a monitoring area, with their own table and chairs, which are fixed to the floor, toilet facilities and a mattress. The walls have posters relating to the detention process and detained person’s rights.

But it raised concerns about the lack of facilities at the Portsmouth Port, which is owned and managed by the city council, which included a lack of soap available at for hand washing for detainees, as well as ‘inadequate’ food.

The report said: “At Portsmouth, the toilet was inoperable for periods. There was also no water supply to the washbasin or soap available. This meant that detained persons had to be escorted by staff in order to use toilet facilities outside the holding room.

“The only food available for months for those detained was crisps and biscuits. Given the many hours that people were often detained, the IMB viewed this to be ‘inadequate’.

However a Portsmouth International Port spokesperson said some of the facilities mentioned in the report were nearing the end of their life but have now been replaced.

They said: “The short-term holding facilities were designed in line with Home Office requirements and the port ensures they remain compliant and suitable for local needs.

“The wash basin units mentioned in the report were reaching end of life, so have now been replaced with brand new units. Prior to their replacement, where soap from the units was not available, alternatives were always accessible.”

IMB inspectors, who visited the location 28 times, also highlighted the following concerns:

• Induction logs were frequently missing key information
• Delays in providing passes to allow IMB inspectors to visit unsupervised
• A general reluctance to allow the IMB to see records of removal, including the detail of how the removal was carried out

IMB South & West STHF Chair, Di Askwith, said: “People in immigration detention can be anxious and vulnerable and may have had a challenging journey to reach that point. IMB members monitor detention facilities and report on whether people are being treated humanely and decently.

“During the 2024-25 reporting year in the South, West and Wales, our observations indicated that people in detention were being treated well by Border Force.

“However, we would like to see more consistent record keeping and for the IMB to be able to access all records in order for us to strengthen the evidence we collect.”

A Home Office spokesperson said an action plan will be accompanied by a letter to the Chair of the IMB as per normal process in response to all annual reports received from the IMB. They said Border Force has dedicated additional resource centrally to co-ordinate responses to monitoring reports.

They added the government is ‘delivering robust system-wide action to strengthen UK border security and restore order to the immigration system, having removed 30,000 people with no right to be in the UK’. It said it has also more than doubled the number of decisions in January to March 2025 compared to the three months before the election (April to June 2024).

This is the second highest number of decisions in a three-month period since comparable records began in 2002, it said.