PQs - December 2017
Parliamentary Questions asked of Government and answered in December 2017:
21 December 2017: HC 116509 (Immigration: Detainees)
Mr Andrew Mitchell (Conservative, Sutton, Coldfield) asked the Home Secretary, what the cost of unlawful detention claims paid by the Home Office has been in the last 12 months. The Minister for Immigration Brandon Lewis replied that they do not release in-year data ahead of the publication of other annual report and accounts until after the figures have been finalised, audited and laid before Parliament.
21 December 2017: HC 119961 (Immigrants: Detainees)
Gareth Thomas (Labour, Harrow West) asked the Home Secretary if the Government will take steps to ensure that all persons detained under immigration powers who claim to be stateless or whose nationality is unclear or disputed can access free legal advice and assistance in relation to Part 14 of Immigration Rules (Rules relating to Stateless Persons). The Minister for Immigration Brandon Lewis replied that “The Home Office does not detain those who are stateless who cannot be removed to any other country… [and] we will only detain persons where they can be removed within a reasonable timeframe.” Detainees will not be provided with advice on the possibility of applying to remain in the UK as a stateless person but all detainees are aware of their right to legal representation. Detainees can also receive advice from legal advice surgeries operating across the detention estate and by way of the internet and legal reference libraries in detention.
18 December 2017: HC 119973 (Immigrants: Detainees)
Gareth Thomas (Labour, Harrow West) asked the Home Secretary “if the Government will place a time limit of 28 days on immigration detention.” The Minister for Immigration Brandon Lewis replied that “The Government has no plans to introduce a fixed time limit on immigration detention as this would only encourage detainees to refuse to cooperate with immigration and asylum processes until they reached the point at which they had to be released from detention and thus avoid their enforced removal from the UK.” He also stated that “detention is only used for the shortest period necessary.”
14 December 2017: HC 118552 (Immigrants: Detainees)
Keith Vaz (Labour, Leicester East) asked the Home Secretary “how many people were held in immigration detention on 1 December 2017; and in which centres those people were being held.” The Minister for Immigration Brandon Lewis replied that “data on people held in immigration detention, broken down by place of detention, are published as at the last day of each quarter. Figures for 31 December 2017 will be released on 22 February 2018.”
14 December 2017: HC 118648 (Detention Centres: Ambulance Services)
Jim Cunningham (Labour, Coventry South) asked the Home Secretary “how many times on average ambulances have been called to each immigration detention centre in England in each of the last five years.” The Minister for Immigration Brandon Lewis replied that “The Home Office does not centrally record data on the number of times ambulances are called to individual immigration removal centres. This could only be provided at disproportionate cost.”
13 December 2017: HC 118473 (Immigrants: Detainees)
Eleanor Smith (Labour, Wolverhampton South West) asked the Home Secretary what the maximum amount of time is that a person can be detained in an immigration removal centre. The Minister for Immigration Brandon Lewis replied “Although there is no fixed time limit on immigration detention in the UK, case law is clear that, to be lawful, detention must last no longer than is reasonably necessary to achieve the purpose for which it was authorised, must not be unduly prolonged and, in relation to removal, there must be a realistic prospect of removal within a reasonable period of time.” He then provided a link to Home Office policy on detention.
13 December 2017: HC 118561 (Immigration Bail)
Keith Vaz (Labour, Leicester East) asked the Home Secretary how many people were granted immigration bail in 2015, 2016 and to date in 2017. The Minister for Immigration Brandon Lewis explained that data on the number people leaving detention (including immigration bail) is published under immigration statistics on the Government website.
8 December 2017: HL3808 (Deportation: EU Nationals)
Lord Beecham (Shadow Spokesperson for Housing, Communities and Local Government, and Justice) asked the Government “when they last published figures relating to the number of homeless EU citizens deported from the UK; if more than one year ago, why those figures have not been updated; and how many such persons have been deported from the UK in 2017 to date.” Baroness Williams of Trafford replied that the Home Office does not record the number of homeless EU citizens deported from the UK. He then provided Immigration Statistics on the number of enforced returns of EU citizens to June 2017 from the Government website.
4 December 2017: HC 116507 (Brook House Immigration Removal Centre)
Andrew Mitchell (Conservative, Sutton Coldfield) asked the Home Secretary “what the average annual cost is of detaining a person in Brook House.” The Minister for Immigration Brandon Lewis responded that this information is “commercially sensitive and release could prejudice HO interests.”
4 December 2017: HC 116508 (Immigrants: Detainees)
Mr Andrew Mitchell (Conservative, Sutton Coldfield) asked the Home Secretary “what proportion of people released from Immigration Removal Centres in the detention estate were released into the UK in the past 12 months.” The Minister of Immigration replied that this data can be found on the Government website.
4 December 2017: HL3822 (Immigrants: Detainees)
Baroness Hamwee (Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Immigration)) asked the Government “How many detainees in Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs) have committed suicide in the last 12 months; and what was (1) the name and nationality of the person committing suicide, and (2) the IRC where they were detained, in each case.” The Minister of State, Home Department, Baroness Williams of Trafford replied that “Any death in immigration detention is subject to investigation by the police, the coroner (or Procurator Fiscal in Scotland) and the independent Prisons and Probation Ombudsman. In the period 1 October 2016 to 30 September 2017 there have been no deaths in immigration removal centres, or shortly after release, where a coroner has yet determined the cause of death to be self inflicted.” He also stated that staff at IRCs are trained to identify those at risk of self harm and also that “information on incidents of self harm where the intent of the self harm attempt is suicide is not readily available from central statistical records and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.”
