Introduction

1. The Inquiry identified a number of issues relating to the methods, policies, practices and other arrangements at Brook House. These factors contributed, critically, to conditions where mistreatment was more likely to occur. Throughout this Report, I have set out the changes that I consider to be necessary – at Brook House, but also more widely – to ensure that the purpose of immigration detention is properly reflected and maintained in centres at which individuals are detained prior to their removal from the UK. That purpose is expressly stated, in the secondary legislation governing these settings, to be to provide “secure but humane accommodation”.¹
2. While those running immigration removal centres must of course maintain “a safe and secure environment”, the law states that they must do so “whilst respecting in particular [detained people’s] dignity and the right to individual expression”.¹ The recommendations made by this Inquiry are intended to support this balance, and to ensure that the safeguards put in place to protect those detained are properly implemented by the third parties managing the centres and suitably verified by the Home Office.
3. This chapter sets out a summary of the changes that I am recommending to help to prevent a recurrence of mistreatment such as that set out in this Report. While I do not make recommendations specifically in relation to the incidents described in Part C in Volume I, many of the themes that I identify there – for example, the inappropriate use of force, the desensitisation of and lack of compassion from staff, and the inappropriate use of isolation – are explored more widely in Part D, the structure of which is followed here.

1. Detention Centre Rules 2001, Rule 3[↩][↩]