Immigration centre expansion inquiry postponed

The government has postponed the public inquiry into plans to more than double the capacity of an immigration removal centre (IRC).

Campsfield near Kidlington, reopened in December after it was shut in 2018 following years of issues, including riots, escapes and complaints about conditions.

The public inquiry into its expansion was due to open at Cherwell District Council in Banbury on 6 October but the Planning Inspectorate announced the postponement on Friday, saying a revised timetable "will be issued in due course".

Campaign group Coalition to Close Campsfield said that followed their letter, requesting the Home Office publishes more material relating to the planning application.

The planning application proposes to increase the centre's capacity from 160 bed spaces to 400.

The Home Office previously said Campsfield IRC had undergone a £70m refurbishment and was "redeveloped to high security standards".

It also said since the election it had "returned or deported over 80,000 individuals, including 11,733 foreign national offenders" and that investments like Campsfield were "essential to continue ramping up these removals".

The centre has been subject to opposition from MPs, residents and charities over the years, with campaigners describing it as an "appalling" place.

In the letter, seen by the BBC, lawyers acting on behalf of the campaigners argued that since large parts of the supporting material had been "withheld or redacted", a proper public scrutiny without those "is not possible".

The coalition said it would be the only outside party acting as a core participant in the enquiry and that a number of significant organisations and individuals who oppose the proposal were "likely to speak".

It called the public inquiry "a landmark moment in the contested history of Campsfield House, but also in the implementation of the government's immigration detention policy".

"The government argues that to achieve more 'removals', more detention spaces are needed," it said.

"This reverses the trend ... to reduce the use of detention and use alternatives."

It added there had been "no legislation, no parliamentary debate, no scrutiny by select committees, and no local planning process to examine the increase in immigration detention."

The plans are being processed under the Crown Development route, which is a planning procedure that takes the decision out of the hands of Cherwell District Council.

The proposals also include centralised catering and healthcare, multi-faith space, leisure and education facilities.