Recommendation 33: Improve HMIP and IMB evidence gathering and reporting processes
From The Brook House Inquiry Report, published 19 September 2023.
Recommendation
HM Inspectorate of Prisons and Independent Monitoring Boards working within immigration removal centres must ensure that they have robust processes for: obtaining and reporting on an enhanced range of evidence and intelligence from detained people and those who represent or support them, staff and contractors, including that which is received outside of inspections or visits; and reporting on any concerns about the Home Office and contractors.
In brief (written by this site)
In May 2025, Dame Angela Eagle, Minister for Border Security and Asylum, stated in a letter quoted in a High Court judgment: "The recommendations in this thematic area have been met and closed." (Dame Angela Eagle, May 2025) The Minister noted that recommendation 33 had been responded to separately by HM Inspectorate of Prisons and the Independent Monitoring Boards, with action plans being published and progress tracked via a central Home Office software system (Dame Angela Eagle, May 2025). Previously, in January 2025, the Minister stated in a written parliamentary answer that the recommendation had been accepted or partially accepted and was on track for closure by summer 2025 (Dame Angela Eagle response, Jan 2025; Dame Angela Eagle, Jan 2025).
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.
About this summary
This recommendation applies across many organisations. The record reflects central policy activity; adoption in individual organisations may vary.
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. Recommendation 33 is addressed to HM Inspectorate of Prisons and the Independent Monitoring Boards; this is the Home Office's answer, so the site records it under the Home Office, not under either of them.
Earlier statement from Home Office (1)
6.10.1. The Home Office has considered its reliance on external scrutiny organisations and the effectiveness of existing internal inspection mechanisms.
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 (22 May 2025)
The recommendations in this thematic area have been met and closed. Recommendation 33 to improve investigation and reporting of HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) and Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB) has been responded to separately by HMIP and the IMB. Action plans in response to HMIP reports are published by HMIP alongside the original report, with actions plans from IMB reports being published from this year, starting with reports covering the 2024 calendar year. HMIP and IMB recommendations are now held on a Home Office wide central software system with established processes in place for monitoring the progress of these recommendations by Detention Services, with additional oversight provided by a central Immigration Enforcement team.
From: R (D1914 and AAA) v Secretary of State for the Home Department; R (AVY) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, Dame Angela Eagle, Minister for Border Security and Asylum
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 260. The letter gives the sentence "The recommendations in this thematic area have been met and closed." once, for a group of recommendations. In the judgment the group is the heading "Inspection and monitoring": recommendations 32 and 33. It is one statement for the group, not a statement about this recommendation alone, and the site records it on recommendation 33 only, where the judgment quotes it.
Earlier statement on delivery (1)
Home Office (15 January 2025)
the remaining 13 (recommendations 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 31, 32 and 33) on track for closure by summer 2025
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 13 remaining accepted recommendations. The same words are recorded on recommendations 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 31, 32 and 33.
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- Home Office
Response, delivery statement