Annual training on Rule 40 and Rule 42 segregation powers
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 and contractors operating immigration removal centres must provide regular training, at least annually, on the operation of Rule 40 and Rule 42 of the Detention Centre Rules 2001, which must include: that Rules 40 and 42 are the only powers under which detained people in immigration removal centres can be removed from association and/or located in temporary confinement; who is permitted to authorise use of those Rules and in what circumstances they may be authorised; that Rules 40 and 42 cannot be used as a punishment or solely for administrative convenience before a planned removal or transfer; and the need to assess any adverse effect that use of Rule 40 or Rule 42 could have on a detained person's physical or mental health, and to consider any steps that could be taken to mitigate those effects. Attendance must be mandatory for all staff working in immigration removal centres and those responsible for managing them. The training must be subject to an assessment.
Brook House Inquiry, The Brook House Inquiry Report · 19 Sep 2023 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- DSO 2/2017 version 5.0, published in November 2025, includes training requirements for use of separation procedures and requires compliance auditing across the detention estate (Detention Services Order 02/2017 v5.0, Home Office, November 2025).
- No published audit confirming annual training is being delivered across the estate has been identified to March 2026.
Response — verbatim from government
●Home Office
The substantive DSO revision on Rule 40/42 includes examination of staff training requirements and compliance auditing.
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): 'On track for closure by summer 2025.' Source →
- 3 Sep 2025 · HM Inspectorate of Prisons Reduced use of force incidents. Detainees report feeling safer. Good de-escalation practices observed. View source → Good Progress
- 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
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
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.