Recommendation 3: Limit cell occupancy to maximum two people
From The Brook House Inquiry Report, published 19 September 2023.
Recommendation
The Home Office must ensure that a maximum of two detained people are accommodated in each cell at Brook House.
In brief (written by this site)
In May 2025, Dame Angela Eagle, the Minister for Border Security and Asylum, stated in correspondence quoted in the High Court that the Home Office "accepted the recommendation to limit room sharing in principle" (Dame Angela Eagle response, May 2025). Previously, in a January 2025 written parliamentary answer, the Minister reported that the recommendation had been met and closed as of October 2024 (Dame Angela Eagle, Jan 2025). In March 2024, the department stated that no room designed for only two individuals at Brook House housed more than two and that there were no plans to change this (Home Office response, Mar 2024).
Sources
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
We accepted the recommendation to limit room sharing in principle
How this response relates to the recommendation
Site note: These are the words of the letter of 22 May 2025 from the Minister for Border Security and Asylum to Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP, as reproduced in the judgment in R (D1914 and AVY) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWHC 1853 (Admin). The letter itself is not published: it is on GOV.UK nowhere, was not deposited in Parliament and is not annexed to the judgment, so the judgment is the record that carries it and is the source this row cites. The judgment quotes it on this recommendation at paragraph 140.
Earlier statement from Home Office (1)
6.2.1. The report comments particularly on poor room conditions at Brook House IRC and that activities and regime were undervalued. All rooms across the removal estate meet standards under Rule 15 (1) of the DC Rules 2001 and the Secretary of State must satisfy himself that, in every IRC, sufficient accommodation is provided for all detained persons. In relation specifically to rooms at Brook House, no room designed for only two individuals houses more than two and there are no plans to change this. Although rooms in some IRCs do hold more than two individuals, this only occurs where those rooms meet DC Rules criteria and are sufficiently sized. If additional rooms were considered in the future, then a rigorous assessment would be undertaken before any action is considered, including adherence to the accommodation DSO which sets out standards for lighting, heating and ventilation.
How this response relates to the recommendation
Site note: CP 1041 is organised by ten key issues, not by recommendation, and states no position on any individual recommendation. Its only general statement of acceptance is that "The government has carefully considered and accepts the broad thrust of the recommendations". The words "in principle" do not appear anywhere in the document.
Delivery
Home Office says completed (15 January 2025)
12 recommendations (recommendations 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 14, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26) met and closed as of October 2024
Site note: One written answer of 15 January 2025 addresses all 33 recommendations in groups: it names each recommendation in one of four groups and says nothing further about any of them individually. It does not say which of the 30 it describes as "accepted or partially accepted" were accepted in full and which in part.
Site note: The source gives this passage once, for the 12 recommendations it describes as met and closed. The same words are recorded on recommendations 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 14, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26.
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- Home Office
Response, delivery statement