To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women are currently held in British prisons awaiting deportation; what is the average time spent in prison; and on what grounds the women are being held.

None. Three women are, however, held solely under Immigration Act powers in the immigration detention accommodation at Harmondsworth awaiting deportation. The length of their detention on 19 October averaged 69 days. They are detained on the ground that they would otherwise fail to maintain contact with the Department.