Statement on publication of the final report of the Brook House Inquiry
Responding to the publication of the final report of the Brook House Inquiry, Charlie Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons said:
We welcome the final report released today as part of the Brook House inquiry.
The abuse of vulnerable detainees that occurred at Brook House in 2017 is a sobering reminder of the importance of building as many safeguards as reasonably practicable into the system to ensure that people held in detention are treated with the humanity and respect to which they are entitled. Independent inspection is one such safeguard, and we take our responsibilities to detainees very seriously. We will carefully consider the report’s findings and whether there are any further changes we should make to our methodology.
We have always kept our methodology under regular review to ensure that it captures as much evidence as possible. For example, since 2017, we have offered every detainee the opportunity to speak privately to an inspector, using interpretation where needed. This is in addition to our translated detainee survey. We also issue a confidential survey to all staff in the centre. Taken together, these methods provide multiple opportunities to identify potential concerns, ensuring that our independent inspections fulfil their role as part of a wider system designed to prevent all forms of ill-treatment.”
Notes to editors
- A copy of the full report, published on 19 September 2023, can be found on the Brook House Inquiry website.
- HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMI Prisons) is an independent inspectorate, inspecting places of detention to report on conditions and treatment and promote positive outcomes for those detained and the public.
- Our inspections of places of immigration detention draw on criteria called Expectations, which are derived from international human rights standards. Our Expectations help us to deliver independent and objective assessments of outcomes for detainees, thereby helping the UK to meet its responsibilities as a signatory to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT). Read our Expectations for immigration detention.
- Independent inspection carried out by HMI Prisons is just one of a number of oversight systems and safeguards in immigration detention. In submissions to the Brook House Inquiry, the different stages of oversight were described as follows.
- The first stage of ‘oversight’ is local management – in this case by G4S and the Home Office. These bodies are responsible for the day-to-day running of the centre, including complying with – that is, meeting – individual Detention Centre Rules and procedures and policies within the centre. They are responsible for ensuring compliance in ways such as training, guidance, systems, management and supervision and so on (the adequacy and success of which the Inquiry is investigating).
- At the second stage of oversight, the Home Office and G4S are also responsible for monitoring that compliance, including but not limited to Home Office contractual monitoring.
- The third stage is internal audit. This is the provision of assurance.
- HMI Prison’s role sits beyond, outside, these three stages. It is wholly independent of the organisations it inspects and its function is not one of ensuring compliance with rules or regulations. Rather, HMI Prisons undertakes regular inspections of immigration removal centres and reports on the treatment of detained persons and conditions in those centres as judged against its own human-rights-based Expectations of appropriate conditions for detained persons.
- HMI Prisons most recently published reports from unannounced inspections of Brook House immigration removal centre in 2022, 2019 and 2017. Read the reports.
- Please email media@hmiprisons.gov.uk if you would like more information.