To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children of asylum seekers were being held in custody at each removal centre on 1 July 2003; and if he intends to end the practice. [124066]

The latest published information on the number of children of asylum seekers held in removal centres is for 2 April 2003.At this date an exercise was carried out to access the number of children under the age of 18 who were detained in Dungavel, Harmondsworth, Oakington and Tinsley House Immigration Service Removal Centres. These centres are the only ones that deal with family cases. The results of the exercise are contained in the following table.

Immigration service removal center	Children under 18 years of age in detention at 2 April 2003
Dungavel	21
Harmondsworth	18
Oakington	14
Tinsley	3
Total	56

Children under 18 years are detained only in two limited circumstances: first, as part of a family group whose detention is considered appropriate; second, when unaccompanied, while alternative care arrangements are made and normally just overnight.While the detention of families with children is very regrettable, it nevertheless remains necessary in appropriate cases in order to maintain an effective immigration control and to tackle abuses of the asylum system.