Recommendation 26: Ensure Home Office staff presence and visibility in IRCs
From The Brook House Inquiry Report, published 19 September 2023.
Recommendation
The Home Office must ensure that its staff are regularly present and visible within each immigration removal centre.
In brief (written by this site)
The Inquiry asked the Home Office to maintain a regular staff presence in removal centres. In a January 2025 written answer, Dame Angela Eagle, Minister of State at the department, stated that the recommendation was accepted or partially accepted and was among 12 recommendations "met and closed as of October 2024" (Dame Angela Eagle response, Jan 2025; Dame Angela Eagle, Jan 2025). HM Inspectorate of Prisons found in September 2025 that detainees retained good contact with the Detention Engagement Team (DET) and that provision was progressing well (HM Inspectorate of Prisons, Sep 2025).
Sources
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 5 Oct 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
30 out of the 33 recommendations made by the Brook House Inquiry have been accepted or partially accepted.
How this response relates to the recommendation
Site note: The written answer gives this sentence once, for 30 of the 33 recommendations together: every recommendation except 7, 19 and 30, which it says were rejected. It does not say which of the 30 were accepted in full and which in part, so the site records "Accepted, fully or in part (not specified)". The same words are recorded on recommendations 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32 and 33. Recommendations 1, 2 and 3 are among the 30 but are not given this row, because the Minister's letter of 22 May 2025 states a position on each of them.
Earlier statement from Home Office (1)
6.8.3. The DET teams are being expanded, with further recruitment underway to support the Home Office’s commitment to improving the access of detained individuals to Home Office staff. DET staff are regularly present and visible within the IRCs, using face-to-face interaction to build relationships with those in detention and help focus them towards return, utilising available incentives such as the Voluntary Returns Scheme and providing an important on-site link between people in detention and their case working teams. Being based at the centres, engaging with those in detention and on-site healthcare providers and contracted service providers, DETs work to identify and manage any vulnerability issues at the earliest opportunity.
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.
Published evidence
Published findings referenced by inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Source type badge indicates whether the finding is independent or government self-reported. Each finding is this site's summary of what the source found, with a link to the source; this site does not add its own progress rating.
Summary by this site of the published finding
3.20 Detainees continued to have good access to the Detention Engagement Team (DET) and provision was developing well.
View detailed findings
3.20 Detainees continued to have good access to the Detention Engagement Team (DET) and provision was developing well.
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- Home Office
Response, delivery statement