To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of those arrested were identified as illegal immigrants in each of the last five years; and how many of these were (a) detained in police cells or immigration removal centres and (b) not detained but referred to a Home Office Unit. (179817)

[holding answer 17 January 2008]: Data on numbers of individuals arrested was only available from April 2005. Arrests on suspicion of being illegal immigrants during this period were:

In “Enforcing the Deal: Our plans for Enforcing the Immigration Laws in the United Kingdom's communities”, published on 19 June 2008, we set out our enforcement priorities. Our attention is centred on taking action against organised criminals, facilitators and employers who break the law. We have focussed over 1,000 additional enforcement staff on enforcement duties whose duties include issuing civil penalties against employers, compliance visits and removal of those who present the greatest harm.

Information on those detained in police cells, immigration removal centres or not detained but referred to a Home Office unit is not collated. Relevant information might be recorded on individual case files but could be obtained only by detailed examination of each record at disproportionate cost.

The data provided is based on management information and is not a national statistic. It should be treated as provisional as it may be subject to change.