THE VERNE has not effectively converted to its new role as a detention centre, inspectors have found.

Despite praise for staff, health provision and detainees’ freedom of movement at the Portland institution, HM Inspectorate of Prisons has raised some concerns.

Detainees are three times more likely to be assaulted at The Verne than other centres.

Levels of violence are ‘too high’ with some serious incidents, and illicit alcohol and psychoactive substances are present on the site.

Inspectors found that despite ‘considerable efforts’, The Verne – which converted last September – had not yet ‘come to terms’ with its new role.

They said that ‘too many detainees’ did not have legal representation and the removal of those who wanted to go voluntarily was delayed by ‘administrative inefficiency.’

Although most were held for less than two months, there were examples of ‘unreasonable’ detention periods, with one man in the system for five years.

Over a third of new arrivals got to The Verne between 10pm and 6.30am, which inspectors said was ‘needless and ‘wrong.’

Nick Hardwick, chief inspector of prisons, said: “Overall, The Verne was operating satisfactorily. However, despite considerable efforts to prepare the institution for its new role, the environment and staff culture reflected an institution that had not yet come to terms with its new function as an IRC. There was too much violence and there were a number of operational challenges to address if safety was to be improved.”

“Some detainees were held for long periods and safeguards such as Rule 35 procedures were not working well enough. The centre was a reasonably respectful place and detainees were reasonably well occupied, but more needed to be done to improve communications both within the centre and between detainees and their families,” he said.

A Home Office spokesman said: “Detention and removal are essential elements of an effective immigration system and we are committed to treating all detainees with dignity and respect.

“We take our responsibilities towards detainees’ welfare extremely seriously. We are pleased the inspector has reported that the majority of detainees in The Verne felt safe and were very positive about their treatment by staff. We have considered the Inspector’s recommendations carefully and are committed to working with our contractors to implement our service improvement plan for the centre.”