Appendix 5: Glossary of terms and abbreviations
| Terms and abbreviations | Explanation |
| ACO | Assistant Custody Officer |
| Adults at Risk | The Home Office’s statutory guidance Adults at Risk in Immigration Detention (Adults at Risk policy) specifies the matters to be taken into account in accordance with Section 59 of the Immigration Act 2016 when determining the detention of vulnerable people |
| Assessment Care in Detention and Teamwork (ACDT) | Detention Services Order 01/2022: Assessment Care in Detention and Teamwork (ACDT) (ACDT DSO) provides mandatory operational guidance for all Home Office, centre supplier and healthcare staff working in immigration removal centres, implementing “a holistic approach to self harm and suicide prevention within the broader context of decency and safety” |
| Association | Time when detained people are out of their cells and able to socialise with one another |
| Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID) | A charity that provides advice and assistance to people in immigration detention |
| BMA | British Medical Association |
| Body worn cameras (BWC) | Cameras worn on the body in an overt capacity by a user for the primary purpose of recording video and audio material |
| Canteen | Term used to describe the shop where detained people can purchase goods. Sometimes used to refer to the goods themselves |
| Care Quality Commission (CQC) | The independent regulator of health and social care in England |
| Care and Separation Unit (CSU) | Sometimes referred to as a ‘segregation unit’ or ‘separation unit’, located within E Wing or Eden Wing, behind a steel gate and containing a further six cells |
| Case studies | Dr James Hard, the Inquiry’s medical expert, in preparing his two written reports for the Inquiry, reviewed in detail the available contemporaneous documents in relation to five individuals who were detained at Brook House during the relevant period (D687, D720, D1527, D1538 and D1914) |
| CCTV | Closed-circuit television |
| Compliance Team | On-site Home Office team responsible for monitoring the contract to manage Brook House |
| Constant watch | Takes place when the risk of suicide is deemed high and so the detained person is directly observed by specific officers for 24 hours a day |
| Control and Restraint (C&R) | The practice of the techniques described in the Use of Force Training Manual. Basic C&R techniques are used by a team of three officers (with the option of having another person involved to control the legs) in order to manage a violent or refractory detained person |
| CPT | European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| DCM | Detention Custody Manager |
| DCO | Detention Custody Officer |
| Detention services orders (DSOs) | Instructions outlining procedures to be followed by staff from the Home Office and its contractors |
| DEPMU | Home Office Detainee Escorting and Population Management Unit |
| DES | Home Office Detention and Escorting Services (known as Detention Services from around April 2023) |
| DESAAT | Home Office Detention and Escorting Services Audit and Assurance Team |
| Detention Centre | Secondary (ie delegated) legislation made under |
| Rules 2001 (the | the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, governing |
| Rules) | the operation and management of immigration |
| removal centres | |
| DOM | Detention Operations Manager |
| DSOS | Detention Services Operating Standards |
| Duty Director | The on-call member of the Senior Management Team (SMT, see below) responsible for the management of Brook House on a particular shift |
| Duty Manager | The Detention Custody Manager (DCM) in charge on a particular shift. Also known as the designated ‘Oscar 1’ (see below) |
| EASS | Equality Advisory and Support Service |
| Eden or E Wing | A smaller wing within Brook House, with 13 cells. It was used to accommodate people who were segregated under Rule 40 or Rule 42, and also used to house detained people during their first and last nights at Brook House, those at high risk of self- harm, those with medical or mental health concerns, and those with a particular vulnerability. See also the Care and Separation Unit (CSU) above |
| EU citizen | A citizen of the member states of the European Union |
| European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) | The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (often referred to as the European Convention on Human Rights) protects basic rights and freedoms, including, for example, a prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment (Article 3) |
| Forward Trust | A substance misuse charity, known as RAPt (Rehabilitation for Addicted Prisoners Trust) prior to 2017 |
| G4S Care and Justice Services (UK) Ltd (G4S) | The contractor managing Brook House in the relevant period |
| G4S Health Services (UK) Ltd | A provider of healthcare services at Brook House during the relevant period |
| Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group (GDWG) | A charity that offers emotional and practical support to detained people at Brook House via visits from Volunteer Visitors and support and advocacy by Advocacy Coordinators |
| Gatwick IRCs | Brook House and Tinsley House (another immigration removal centre nearby, opened in 1996) are collectively referred to as ‘Gatwick IRCs’ |
| Global Solutions Ltd (GSL) | The predecessor to G4S at Brook House |
| HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) | An independent inspectorate that inspects and reports on conditions for, and treatment of, those in immigration removal centres, as well as in other institutions such as prisons and young offender institutions |
| Home Office Detention Gatekeeper | A Home Office official who reviews the suitability of individuals for detention |
| Immigration detention estate | All immigration removal centres in the UK |
| Immigration removal centre (IRC) | Detention centres at which people are detained, typically in order to effect their removal from the country, to establish their identity or the basis of their claim to live in the UK, or because there is reason to believe that they will fail to comply with the conditions attached to a grant of immigration bail |
| Immigration removal centre (IRC) contractors | Private companies, such as G4S, contracted to manage immigration removal centres |
| Incident report | A report used for ‘reportable incidents’, including assaults, escapes, suicides and full searches. They should include the category of incident, the location, any injuries sustained, detained people involved and staff witnesses. They should also include incident statements from staff witnesses and be passed to Oscar 1, the Duty Director and then to Security for comments, before being sent to the Home Office |
| Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) | A government-appointed official responsible for providing independent scrutiny of the UK’s border and immigration functions (established by section 48 of the UK Borders Act 2007, as amended) |
| Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) | Volunteers monitoring the welfare of those detained in prisons and immigration detention facilities |
| IS91 | A written form which allows a person to be kept in immigration detention under the powers of the Immigration Act 1971. It must be served on every detained person, including children, at the time of their initial detention |
| ITC | Initial Training Course |
| KPI | Key performance indicator |
| National Audit Office (NAO) | A Parliamentary body that scrutinises public spending by central government departments, government agencies and non-departmental public bodies |
| National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) | 21 statutory bodies are members of the UK NPM, set up under the OPCAT (see below) to prevent inhuman treatment in places of detention |
| Non-governmental organisation (NGO) | An organisation independent of government, typically non-profit making |
| Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) | Independent regulator for nurses and midwives in the UK, and nursing associates in England |
| Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) | Treaty that supplements the 1984 United Nations Convention against Torture and establishes an international inspection system for places of detention |
| Oscar 1 / Oscar 2 | Operational manager(s) on duty |
| Pain compliance | The deliberate use of pain-inducing techniques (PIT, see below) during restraint to gain control of the individual being restrained |
| Part C | Part of the IS91 form (see above) which primarily relates to the risk detained people pose to others |
| Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) | PPE is described in Prison Service Order 1600: Use of Force as: “Short shield / mini shield (may be carried by the number 1)[;] Helmets[;] Shin / knee guards[;] Forearm guards[;] Gloves[;] and Flame retardant overalls (if required)” |
| PIT | Pain-inducing technique |
| Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) | An anxiety disorder caused by very stressful, frightening or distressing events |
| Practice Plus Group (PPG) | Contractor providing healthcare services at Brook House since September 2021 |
| Prisonisation | The treatment of a non-prison setting as, effectively, a prison, with detained people treated as criminal and dangerous |
| Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) | Appointed by the Secretary of State for Justice to act as an independent adjudicator for complaints (including from individuals detained under immigration powers) and to conduct investigations into deaths in custody |
| Prison service orders (PSOs) | Policy and guidance for prison and probation professionals (replaced in 2010 by prison service instructions (PSIs)) |
| PSU | Professional Standards Unit at Home Office |
| Relevant period | For the purposes of this Inquiry, as set out in the Terms of Reference: 1 April 2017 to 31 August 2017 |
| RGN | Registered General Nurse |
| RMN | Registered Mental Health Nurse |
| Rule 3 | Rule within the Detention Centre Rules 2001. Rule 3(1) provides that the “purpose of detention centres shall be to provide for the secure but humane accommodation of detained persons in a relaxed regime with as much freedom of movement and association as possible, consistent with maintaining a safe and secure environment, and to encourage and assist detained persons to make the most productive use of their time, while respecting in particular their dignity and the right to individual expression” Rule 3(2) requires that “due recognition will be given at detention centres to the need for awareness of the particular anxieties to which detained persons may be subject and the sensitivity that this will require, especially when handling issues of cultural diversity” |
| Rule 34 | Rule within the Detention Centre Rules 2001 that every detained person should be medically examined by a GP within 24 hours of their arrival at a detention centre |
| Rule 35 | Rule within the Detention Centre Rules 2001 by which vulnerable people are brought to the attention of those responsible for making decisions on continuing detention |
| Rule 40 | Removal from Association (Rule 40) is a mechanism under the Detention Centre Rules 2001 that allows for the segregation of detained people |
| Rule 42 | Temporary Confinement (Rule 42) is a mechanism under the Detention Centre Rules 2001 that allows for the segregation of detained people |
| Security Information Report (SIR) | Reports written by any member of staff who has information that is relevant to the safety and security of the immigration detention estate, collated by the Security Department at Brook House |
| Senior Management Team (SMT) | Senior staff who were functional heads responsible for their own department(s) and teams |
| Serco Group PLC (Serco) | The contractor managing Brook House from May 2020 onwards |
| Speak Out | G4S’s whistleblowing mechanism |
| Speak Up | Serco’s whistleblowing mechanism |
| Spice | Synthetic cannabis, also referred to as a new psychoactive substance |
| SPT | United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
| Tascor | A contractor that provided escorting of detained people and related services to the Home Office |
| Time served foreign national offender (TSFNO) | A foreign national who has served a sentence in a UK prison having been convicted of a criminal offence, and is due to be deported as a result |
| UCPI | Undercover Policing Inquiry |
| Wings | A, B, C, D and E wings: Residential wings at Brook House (ie Arun, Beck, Clyde, Dove and Eden; or sometimes Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta and Echo wings) |