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Require IRC contracts to uphold Rule 3 humane detention principles

Brook House Inquiry · The Brook House Inquiry Report · Issued 19 September 2023 · Addressed to: Home Office

Government responseHome Office: Accepted in part (May 2025)

DeliveryHome Office says completed (Jan 2025)

Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry

●Inquiry recommendation

The Home Office must ensure that each contract for the management of an immigration removal centre must expressly require compliance with the overriding purpose of Rule 3, which is to provide "the secure but humane accommodation of detained persons in a relaxed regime with as much freedom of movement and association as possible, consistent with maintaining a safe and secure environment, and to encourage and assist detained persons to make the most productive use of their time, whilst respecting in particular their dignity and the right to individual expression". The provisions and operation of each contract must be consistent with and uphold the requirements of the Detention Centre Rules 2001, the Adults at Risk in Immigration Detention policy and the safeguards contained in detention services orders (including those concerning the use of force).

Brook House Inquiry, The Brook House Inquiry Report · 19 Sep 2023 Source PDF →

Published evidence summary

AI-generated evidence summary

In a May 2025 letter quoted in a High Court judgment, Dame Angela Eagle, Minister for Border Security and Asylum, stated that the Home Office partially accepted the recommendation, explaining that each contract to manage an immigration removal centre expressly stipulates compliance with the overriding purpose of Rule 3 and upholds wider detention rules and safeguards (Dame Angela Eagle response, May 2025). Previously, in a January 2025 written parliamentary answer, the Minister reported that the recommendation was "met and closed as of October 2024" (Dame Angela Eagle, Jan 2025).

Sources

AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026.

Government response

●Home Office · Accepted in part · 22 May 2025

Words of: Dame Angela Eagle, Minister for Border Security and Asylum, letter to Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP, 22 May 2025, as quoted in R (D1914) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWHC 1853 (Admin), 21 July 2025

We partially accepted the recommendation regarding the compliance of Detention Centre Rule 3 within our IRC contracts. Each contract for the management of an IRC expressly stipulates compliance with the overriding purpose of Rule 3. In addition, the provisions and operation of each contract must be consistent with and uphold the requirements of the wider Detention Centre Rules 2001, the Adults at Risk in Immigration Detention policy and the safeguards contained in Detention Services Orders (DSO).

Response document: R (D1914 and AAA) v Secretary of State for the Home Department; R (AVY) v Secretary of State for the Home Department

Site note: These are the words of the letter of 22 May 2025 from the Minister for Border Security and Asylum to Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP, as reproduced in the judgment in R (D1914 and AVY) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWHC 1853 (Admin). The letter itself is not published: it is on GOV.UK nowhere, was not deposited in Parliament and is not annexed to the judgment, so the judgment is the record that carries it and is the source this row cites. The judgment quotes it on this recommendation at paragraph 135.

Earlier statement from Home Office (1)

●Home Office · Under consideration · 19 Mar 2024

Words of: Home Office, Government response to the public inquiry into Brook House Immigration Removal Centre (CP 1041), March 2024

6.1.1.The government is committed to addressing the key issues found in the report around the terms and monitoring of contracts, holding the most senior service provider managers to account as well as those delivering services within IRCs. From 2017, following the documentary, the Home Office has recognised deficiencies and significantly invested in the development of new contracts to improve service provision and bolster oversight thereof. These contracts require the implementation of an internal audit programme to monitor both processes within the IRC and compliance with detention centre (DC) rules, detention services operating standards and detention services orders (DSOs) as well as mandating self-reporting by contracted service providers. Key performance indicators (KPIs) relate to operating the required audit arrangements and submitting completed audits to the Home Office, including details of any non-compliance.

6.1.2. Two different Home Office teams operate in each IRC; detention services compliance teams are responsible for all on site contract monitoring. This includes ensuring that contracted service providers are fulfilling their contractual requirements and delivering against KPIs. The teams monitor the services provided, the treatment of detained persons and the condition of the establishment. Detention engagement teams (DETs) are responsible for interacting with those detained on behalf of casework teams and providing updates on case progression. In addition to this oversight and engagement, improvements are being made to the current Detention Services Operations Compliance and Assurance strategy for 2024 onwards to:

define a robust staffing structure for locally embedded Home Office compliance teams and standardise compliance monitoring schedules

provide a clear methodology, ensuring a consistent approach to the monitoring of and adherence to contracts

strengthen consistency between IRCs by standardising processes,sharing best practice and providing a consistent approach across the detention estate with clear reporting and escalation processes

Extract from: Government response to the public inquiry into Brook House Immigration Removal Centre

Site note: CP 1041 is organised by ten key issues, not by recommendation, and states no position on any individual recommendation. Its only general statement of acceptance is that "The government has carefully considered and accepts the broad thrust of the recommendations". The words "in principle" do not appear anywhere in the document.

Delivery

●Home Office says completed · 15 Jan 2025

12 recommendations (recommendations 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 14, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26) met and closed as of October 2024

From: Mistreatment of Detainees at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre Inquiry (written question UIN 23170)

Site note: One written answer of 15 January 2025 addresses all 33 recommendations in groups: it names each recommendation in one of four groups and says nothing further about any of them individually. It does not say which of the 30 it describes as "accepted or partially accepted" were accepted in full and which in part.

Site note: The source gives this passage once, for the 12 recommendations it describes as met and closed. The same words are recorded on recommendations 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 14, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26.

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