Home Office must ‘urgently reconsider’ decision to award removal centre contract to Serco, say MPs

Exclusive: Politicians express ‘extreme concern’ at decision to grant management of Gatwick removal centres to private firm that has ‘demonstrated itself to be an untrustworthy contractor’ in the past

Ministers announced last week that Serco, which already runs Yarl’s Wood detention centre, will take over Brook House and Tinsley House – currently run by G4S – from May 2020 until 2028 (Getty)

MPs have called on the Home Office to urgently reconsider its decision to award scandal-hit firm Serco with a contract to run two immigration removal centres.

Ministers announced last week that Serco, which already runs Yarl’s Wood detention centre, will take over Brook House and Tinsley House – currently run by G4S – from May 2020 until 2028.

The decision prompted outrage from campaigners who said it was wrong for the company to be awarded contracts to run detention centres despite “obviously having failed to protect people in their custody” in the past, including a string of sexual abuse scandals in Yarl’s Wood.

Now, a letter to home secretary Priti Patel, signed by the chairs of four all-party parliamentary groups (APPG) on immigration, states they are “extremely concerned by this news and by the continued involvement of Serco in the running of immigration removal centres more generally”.

It goes on to note that the company has faced “repeated allegations of abuse” at Yarl’s Wood removal centre, which it has run since 2007, that it has “demonstrated itself to be an untrustworthy contractor” in relation to its contract for the electronic tagging of offenders and the “outrage it has prompted with lock changes in asylum accommodation in Glasgow”.

The MPs also request that the home secretary publishes all documents related to the procurement process for the contract.

The letter, coordinated by Paul Blomfield, vice-chair of the Joint APPG Inquiry on Immigration Detention, states: “Any abuse at a removal centre is obviously your responsibility as home secretary. Given the evidence above, we would question on what basis you saw fit to contract Serco to run Brook and Tinsley House immigration removal centres.

“We would be grateful if you could urgently reconsider your decision to grant the contract to run Brook and Tinsley House to Serco. We also request that you publish all documents related to the procurement process.”

Rupert Soames, chief executive of Serco, said the firm had a “great deal of experience of caring for people in the immigration system both in the UK and internationally” and it “understood the sensitivity and complexity of this role” and was “committed to ensuring that there is a healthy, decent environment in the centres”.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “All government contracts are awarded through a robust, open and fair procurement process and in accordance with the law.

“The welfare of individuals in immigration removal centres is of the utmost importance, which is why the new contract includes additional protections for vulnerable detainees as well as those at risk of suicide and self-harm.”