Crown Courts, Royal Courts of Justice and immigration and asylum chambers in London

Summary of findings: Staff treated detainees with respect and compassion, and detainees were overwhelmingly positive about the care they received. Persistent failures in investment, maintenance and cleaning, however, meant many detainees were held in poor conditions. Detainees often arrived late from prison, many spent longer in custody than necessary, and many had an excessive wait for transfer following conclusion of their cases. Children were too often locked in cells without good reason.

Points to note: Staff were not trained in emergency resuscitation frequently enough, there was no access to nicotine replacement products, and released detainees were often not given the means to travel all the way home.