Campsfield House immigration detention centre to close

MP Layla Moran said the decision to close Campsfield House was "overdue"

An immigration detention centre in Oxfordshire will close following a review of detainees' welfare, the government has announced.

The closure of 282-bed Campsfield House in Kidlington follows Home Secretary Sajid Javid's promise to reduce people held in centres by up to 40%.

The government has said there are no current plans for other detention centres to close across the UK.

Oxfordshire MP Layla Moran said the Kidlington decision was "overdue".

Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes said it was time to "modernise and rationalise the detention estate", and "detention should only be used when no other approaches will work".

'Welcome, if overdue'

In its 2017 annual report, the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) found detainees had arrived at Campsfield House without their possessions 150 times.

It said it had "serious concerns" about the "significant numbers" of detainees affected.

The building, managed by Mitie Care and Custody, will close in May 2019 when its contract ends.

Ms Moran, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, said it was a "welcome, if overdue, announcement that people won't be indefinitely detained in our community".

The Verne Immigration Removal Centre in Dorset closed in January 2018, following the closures of Dover and Haslar centres in 2015.

The Home Office made the closure following Stephen Shaw's second review, which was issued in July.