Require proper cell sharing risk assessments
Brook House Inquiry · The Brook House Inquiry Report · Issued 19 September 2023 · Addressed to: Home Office
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
The Home Office must ensure that adequate risk assessment for cell sharing is carried out by contractors in relation to every detained person. This must be done at the outset of detention and then repeated at reasonable intervals (at least every 14 days) or following any relevant change in circumstances. In the event that an immigration removal centre is unable to detain someone in accordance with the outcome of a risk assessment (due to capacity or for other reasons), the Home Office must ensure that the individual does not remain at that centre.
Brook House Inquiry, The Brook House Inquiry Report · 19 Sep 2023 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- No independent assessment of whether cell sharing risk assessments are being carried out at the required frequency across the estate has been identified to March 2026.
Response — verbatim from government
●Home Office
A new staffing model delivers a healthier ratio of custodial staff per detained individual. The Home Office states that cell sharing risk assessments are covered under the new contractual arrangements.
Home Office · 19 Mar 2024 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 14 Jan 2025 Angela Eagle, Written PQ 23170 (15 January 2025): 'Due for closure by end of January 2025.' Source →
- 3 Sep 2025 · HM Inspectorate of Prisons Rolling refurbishment of units and upgraded library described as "relaxed and welcoming space". However, cells remain inadequately ventilated with sealed windows. View source → Mixed Findings
- 19 Sep 2024 · Brook House Inquiry Chair Inquiry Chair Kate Eves described government response as "inadequate" and called for a "reset" with the new government. Warned abuse "becomes a question of when, not if" it happens again. Insufficient Progress
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Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.