409.This section provides for the appointment of Visiting Committees for every detention centre and makes provision for the functions of those committees to be set out in detention centre rules. In particular, the section requires that the rules must include functions of the type listed in subsection (3). Every member of a Visiting Committee for a detention centre is entitled to enter the centre at any time and have free access to any part of it and to every person detained there. Visiting Committee members are drawn from a wide range of occupational backgrounds, reflecting the needs of detained persons, and are subject to Home Office departmental security checks before being appointed.
Schedule 14 Part VIII: Detention centres and detained persons Section 152: Visiting Committees and inspections