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Limit cell occupancy to maximum two people

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 a maximum of two detained people are accommodated in each cell at Brook House.

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

Published evidence summary

AI-generated evidence summary

In May 2025, Dame Angela Eagle, the Minister for Border Security and Asylum, stated in correspondence quoted in the High Court that the Home Office "accepted the recommendation to limit room sharing in principle" (Dame Angela Eagle response, May 2025). Previously, in a January 2025 written parliamentary answer, the Minister reported that the recommendation had been met and closed as of October 2024 (Dame Angela Eagle, Jan 2025). In March 2024, the department stated that no room designed for only two individuals at Brook House housed more than two and that there were no plans to change this (Home Office response, Mar 2024).

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 accepted the recommendation to limit room sharing in principle

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 140.

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

6.2.1. The report comments particularly on poor room conditions at Brook House IRC and that activities and regime were undervalued. All rooms across the removal estate meet standards under Rule 15 (1) of the DC Rules 2001 and the Secretary of State must satisfy himself that, in every IRC, sufficient accommodation is provided for all detained persons. In relation specifically to rooms at Brook House, no room designed for only two individuals houses more than two and there are no plans to change this. Although rooms in some IRCs do hold more than two individuals, this only occurs where those rooms meet DC Rules criteria and are sufficiently sized. If additional rooms were considered in the future, then a rigorous assessment would be undertaken before any action is considered, including adherence to the accommodation DSO which sets out standards for lighting, heating and ventilation.

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.

How this page is built

The recommendation and the government responses are verbatim from primary documents. Delivery statements and other bodies' findings are shown in their own words, each with its source. The summary is written by this site and labelled as such. The Index does not paraphrase sources or characterise intent; it records what has been published.