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Detainees: Children

Volume 490: debated on Monday 23 March 2009

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children have been held in immigration removal centres for a period of more than (a) two weeks, (b) one month, (c) two months and (d) six months in 2008; and if she will make a statement. (263892)

The requested information is not held centrally and would be available through the detailed examination of individual case files only at disproportionate cost.

The following table shows the numbers of children detained within the UK Border Agency detention estate solely under Immigration Act powers on a snapshot basis as at the last Saturday of each quarter of 2008, broken down by length of detention.

National Statistics on children detained solely under Immigration Act powers on a snapshot basis are published quarterly. This information is published in tables 9-11 of the Control of Immigration: Quarterly Statistical Summary, United Kingdom bulletins which are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office’s Research, Development and Statistics website at:

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html

Children are detained only in the following limited circumstances: most usually, as part of a family group whose detention is considered necessary; exceptionally, when unaccompanied, while alternative care arrangements are made and normally just overnight; to facilitate supervised escort of an unaccompanied child, who is being removed, from his/her normal place of residence to the port where removal will take place—detention occurs only on the day of the planned removal to enable the child to be properly and safely escorted to his/her flight and/or to their destination; and in exceptional circumstances where it can be shown that an ex-foreign national prisoner aged under 18 poses a serious risk to the public and a decision to deport or remove him/her has been taken.

The Government’s stated policy on detention of families with children is set out in the 1998 White Paper “Fairer, Faster and Firmer—A Modern Approach to Immigration and Asylum”. In all cases there is a presumption in favour of temporary admission or temporary release and all reasonable alternatives to detention are considered before detention is authorised.

Children1 recorded as being in detention in the United Kingdom solely under Immigration Act powers, by length of detention as at the last Saturday of each quarter in 20082,3

Number of children1

Length of detention4,5

29 March

28 June

27 September

27 December

Seven days or less

10

15

30

5

Eight to 14 days

*

5

*

15

15 to 28 days

5

20

20

15

29 days to less than two months

15

15

5

5

Two months to less than three months

5

*

Three months to less than four months

Four months to less than six months

Six months to less than one year

One year or more

Grand total

35

55

55

40

1 People recorded as being under 18 on the last Saturday of each quarter. These figures will overstate if any applicants aged 18 or over claim to be younger.

2 Figures rounded to the nearest 5 (— = 0, * = 1 or 2), may not sum to the totals shown because of independent rounding and exclude persons detained in police cells, Prison Service establishments and those detained under both criminal and immigration powers.

3 Figures include dependants.

4 Relates to most recent period of sole detention.

5 Two months is defined as 61 days; four months is defined as 122 days; six months is defined as 182 days.