Mitie advertised roles at the Heathrow immigration removal centre including tutors and managers offering workshops such as floristry, cake decorating, balloon craft and arts and crafts, with salaries between £31,000 and £38,000. Mitie said the roles supported detainees' physical and mental wellbeing and were noted by inspectors for helping people manage detention-related stress. Home Office minister Seema Malhotra said the roles were unnecessary and asked for them to be removed, while the Home Office has not specified which roles and several remain listed. Care minister Stephen Kinnock said contractors had excessively interpreted obligations to provide physical exercise.
The outsourcing firm Mitie, which manages the Heathrow immigration removal centre (IRC) in west London, listed several roles online, including a painting and decorating tutor and gym manager, for salaries ranging between 31,000 and 38,000. One of the job descriptions includes providing workshops in floristry, cake decorating, balloon craft, and arts and craft activities to provide a safe, secure, stimulating, supportive and productive environment for residents.
He told LBC: My understanding of it is, they're contractually obliged to have some kind of physical exercise, because you want to make sure that people aren't falling into ill health, because that just makes it even worse for the taxpayer if we're having to deal with that kind of thing. But it seems that there's been an excessive interpretation of those contractual obligations.
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