National Preventive Mechanism Tenth Annual Report 2018–19 detention. The Joint Committee on Human Rights led an inquiry into the Home Office’s treatment of these individuals and published a report on the scandal in June 2018. However, ongoing concerns were raised regarding the safety of detainees, high levels of use of NPS and related violence. For example, the Heathrow IMB reported a significant drugs problem, gang activity and violent incidents and at Brook House there were 55 reports of actual or suspected bullying over the year. IMBs at three centres – Heathrow, Brook House and Campsfield House – raised concerns about the high levels of handcuffing for detainees being escorted on external visits and the IMB Charter Flight Monitoring Team expressed similar concerns about the overuse of waist restraint belts on removal flights.82 IMBs raised concerns about the operation of the Home Office ‘adults at risk’ policy and its effectiveness in keeping the most vulnerable people out of detention,83 and weaknesses in rule 35 protections were identified by HMI Prisons at Tinsley House, a small IRC holding just under 140 detainees.84 The adults at risk policy aims to ensure that risk factors related to vulnerability are balanced against ‘immigration control factors’ (i.e. the length of time in detention, public protection issues and compliance issues). In their evidence to Stephen Shaw’s follow-up review, several organisations were concerned about whether this balance was being achieved, particularly with regard to the evidence levels and screening for vulnerability.85 The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration will, in future, report annually on how the policy is operating. Detention outcomes and detention without limit all remained problematic. IMBs voiced ongoing concerns about the impact on detainees’ mental and physical health of the absence of a statutory time limit and about the high proportion of detainees who were released from IRCs rather than being removed. However, they welcomed the reduction both in the number of people detained and the number held for excessively long periods, and the introduction of an automatic referral to a bail hearing for most detainees after four months in detention. IMBs will monitor how this affects periods of detention. The investigation of alleged abuse of detainees at Brook House IRC, aired in undercover footage by BBC's Panorama in September 2017, was subject to legal challenge during the year. Two of the detainees brought judicial review proceedings to call on the Home Office to establish an independent inquiry into the abuse, in line with duties under Article 3 of ECHR (the prohibition of torture). Shortly before the final hearing in the case the Home Office requested 82 Independent Monitoring Boards, October 2019, National Annual Report for the Immigration Estate 2018, https://s3-euwest-2.amazonaws.com/imb-prod-storage-1ocod6bqky0vo/uploads/2019/10/IMBIDE-Annual-Report-2018-FINAL-003.pdf [accessed 05/12/19] 83 A revised policy came into force in July 2018. 84 HM Inspectorate of Prisons, June 2018, Report on an unannounced inspection of Tinsley House Immigration Removal Centre, https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2018/08/Tinsley-HouseWeb-2018.pdf [accessed 05/12/19] 85 Shaw, S., July 2018, Assessment of government progress in implementing the report on the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons. A follow-up report to the Home Office, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/ system/uploads/attachment_data/file/728376/Shaw_report_2018_Final_web_accessible.pdf [accessed 18/10/19] 32