Strengthen Independent Monitoring Board statutory footing and responsiveness
Brook House Inquiry · The Brook House Inquiry Report · Issued 19 September 2023
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
The government must: respond to and publish responses to all concerns raised by any Independent Monitoring Board regarding immigration removal centres; take steps without further delay to amend the Detention Centre Rules 2001, in so far as they govern Independent Monitoring Boards, in order to accurately reflect their current role; and consider whether to put the National Chair and Management Board of the Independent Monitoring Boards on a statutory footing.
Brook House Inquiry, The Brook House Inquiry Report · 19 Sep 2023 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- No legislation amending the statutory position of Independent Monitoring Boards in immigration removal centres has been identified in Acts passed between March 2024 and March 2026, including the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025.
- No further published government update on the timeline for IMB legislation has been identified to March 2026.
Sources
How was this evidence gathered?
Response — verbatim from government
●Home Office
The Ministry of Justice has committed in the 2021 Prisons Strategy White Paper to pursue legislative reform to provide Independent Monitoring Boards with a statutory framework, intending to legislate 'as soon as Parliamentary time allows'.
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 →
- 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.