To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many non-criminal prisoners are detained under the Immigration Act 1971; and for how many weeks they have been detained following the completion of their sentence. (187288)

The chief executive of the Border and Immigration Agency wrote to the chairman of the Home Affairs Committee on 20 November 2007. She reported that there are around 1,500 foreign nationals whose sentences have expired and are detained by the Agency or Prison Estate and who are awaiting deportation.