Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of what led to concerns about detainee welfare at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre.

The Government made an immediate assessment that G4S needed to take swift action against an agreed action plan to address necessary improvements at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre. These improvements will ensure that the standards of detainee welfare expected by the Government are met. Progress against this plan is being closely monitored.

Stephen Shaw is currently assessing progress against the recommendations in his report into the Welfare in Detention of Vulnerable Persons published in January 2016. In addition, the G4S Board has commissioned an independent review to establish the factors affecting staff morale and behaviour and attitudes to whistleblowing. Neither independent review has reported yet. The Government will consider their findings very carefully in due course.

Independent scrutiny is a vital part of assurance that our removal centres are secure and humane. The Government will continue to implement action in response to independent recommendations made by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons and by the centre’s Independent Monitoring Board.