Firm told to scrap floristry and gym roles at detention centre

The government has told a contractor to remove jobs from a recruitment website, after it emerged there were plans to hire floristry and hairdressing tutors for detainees at an immigration removal centre near Heathrow airport.

Adverts for the jobs, first reported by the Sun newspaper, included a "hospitality and floristry tutor", who was to teach skills including cake decorating and ballooncraft.

Home Office minister Seema Malhotra has instructed the contractor, Mitie, to remove the jobs - some of which had annual salaries of nearly £39,000.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said Labour were "pouring taxpayers money into perks when every effort should be on deportations".

Philp added: "Hiring gym managers and ballooncraft tutors for people who must be deported is indefensible and must be stopped immediately."

Malhotra said: "We do not believe all these roles are necessary and have told the Home Office to speak to Mitie to remove them."

It is not yet clear which jobs Malhotra ordered to be scrapped.

A number of the jobs are still available on the governments Find a Job website.

The roles were posted by facilities management company Mitie, which has signed several deals with the Home Office to provide immigration services.

Mitie manages the Heathrow immigration removal centre (IRC), which is comprised of both the Colnbrook and Harmondsworth facilities, located next to the UKs busiest airport.

Combined, the facilities have a capacity of 965 residents, making it the largest immigration removal centre in Europe, according to Mitie.

Mitie aims "to treat those in our care with dignity, decency, and respect", adding that it works a "high risk, high profile and heavily regulated environment".

The roles advertised at the facility include a "gym manager" with an advertised annual salary of £38,873. Tasks included promoting "meaningful gym activities within the sportshalls, gym areas and courtyards".

A "hospitality and floristry tutor" would be responsible for promoting and delivering "workshops in relevant creative skills including Floristry, cake decorating, ballooncraft." The position has an advertised annual salary of £31,585.

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said the government had "lost the plot" and was "addicted to providing freebies", according to the Sun.

Jenrick added: "These jobs should be withdrawn immediately and replaced by security officers that can increase deportations."

A spokesperson for Mitie said: "The impact of these services was highlighted in the recent HMIP report into Harmondsworth, which said that these provisions contributed to a greater overall focus on helping individuals to manage the stresses of detention."

A report published last year found that conditions at the West London immigration centre were "the worst" in the country, and put detainees at "imminent risk of harm".

It added that drug use and violence at the centre were "widespread".