asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many people were being detained under immigration laws in (a) prisons, and (b) immigration detention centres on the first day of each month in 2006 to date. [HL300]

Information on persons detained is published in the Quarterly Asylum Bulletin, on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

As a result of a change in working practices in IND, statistics on persons detained in Prison Service establishments solely under Immigration Act powers are not available for quarter two and quarter three of 2006. Currently, and over forthcoming months, we are working on analysis of data sources held by IND and the National Offender Management Service to formulate a robust collation method for production of these statistics in future.