The management of Brook House under G4S

29. G4S was contracted to run Brook House from its opening in 2009 until May 2020.
30. Mr Ben Saunders was the Centre Director for Gatwick IRCs during the relevant period. He reported to the Managing Director of G4S Custodial & Detention Services, Mr Jeremy Petherick, who in turn reported to G4S Regional President UK & Ireland, Mr Peter Neden.¹
31. During the relevant period, the Senior Management Team (SMT) also included Mr Stephen Skitt, Ms Sarah Newland, Ms Michelle Brown and Mr Julian Williams.² Each of these “functional heads” (at D grade) was responsible for their own department(s) and teams.³ Monthly SMT meetings covered “departmental updates, audits and compliance matters, and operational updates/matters”, along with considering functional heads’ reports and directors’ feedback, and reviewing use of force incidents.⁴ Individual SMT members might attend daily morning meetings, and each held their own monthly meetings with their staff.³

Figure 4: The G4S management structure at Brook House in August 2017

Source: CJS0072810

32. Below the SMT were intermediate managers (at E1 grade).⁵ Those who were part of the SMT or E1 grade would perform the role of Duty Director on a rotating basis. On each shift, there would always be a named Duty Director, either on site or on call.⁶ The Duty Director role involved “operational oversight” of Brook House, including being responsible for reviewing those detained people subject to Rule 40 or 42 of the Rules (removal from association and temporary confinement) or those on ACDT plans, attending to staffing issues, and being made aware of any incidents within Brook House.⁷
33. On a more day-to-day level, Detention Custody Managers (DCMs) were line managers of the Detention Custody Officers (DCOs) in their team, and were typically recruited from existing staff.⁸ Mr Saunders believed that there was “quite a large gap” between DCM and E1 grade roles.⁹
34. DCOs were the primary staff points of contact with detained people. They were generally designated to a particular area of Brook House but could be relocated as required. Some worked on residential wings, generally remaining on the same wing for all shifts, while others (such as DCO Callum Tulley) were Activities staff, working across various areas such as the gym, library and ‘cultural kitchen’.
35. Assistant Custody Officers (ACOs) worked in areas such as the gatehouse and visitors centre, undertaking “very mundane tasks” such as escorting vans or opening security doors.¹⁰ ACOs had no direct contact with detained people.¹¹
36. The Inquiry did not consider in detail non-custodial G4S employees, such as human resources and administrative staff, as they had limited or no contact with detained people. Alongside G4S staff were those employed by subcontractors, such as cleaning and catering staff, and Healthcare staff employed by G4S Health Services. There were also Home Office employees working within Brook House (discussed further in Chapter D.2 in Volume II).

1. KEN000001 para 24; CJS0072810_001[↩]
2. KEN000001 para 24[↩]
3. SER000455 para 153[↩][↩]
4. SER000455 paras 154-155[↩]
5. SER000453 para 5[↩]
6. Daniel Haughton 16 March 2022 127/21-128/4. Mr Haughton explained that he acted as Duty Director about once a week and every six to eight weekends; SER000453 para 6[↩]
7. SER000453 para 6; Daniel Haughton 16 March 2022 77/6-14. Detention Services Order 01/2022: Assessment Care in Detention and Teamwork (ACDT) (INQ000214) (Home Office, October 2022) provides mandatory operational guidance regarding “a holistic approach to self harm and suicide prevention within the broader context of decency and safety”[↩]
8. INQ000064 para 4.26[↩]
9. KEN000001 para 30[↩]
10. INQ000052 paras 13-15[↩]
11. INQ000064 para 4.4[↩]