asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they disclose detailed reasons for detention to the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal when it considers bail applications. [HL113]
If the Secretary of State wishes to contest an application for bail, he must file with the tribunal and serve on the applicant a written statement of his reasons for doing so.
This statement, known as the bail summary, will include the reasons why continued detention is considered to be appropriate.
asked Her Majesty's Government:
In how many asylum and immigration cases involving detention or removal of families, children have been split from their families in each of the current and previous two years. [HL114]
The information requested could only be obtained by the detailed examination of individual case records at disproportionate cost. The Borders and Immigration Agency makes every effort to avoid splitting families and does so only in exceptional cases.
The policy on splitting families can be found in Chapter 58.7.1 of the Operational Enforcement Manual (OEM), which is publicly available on the BIA website at: www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/oemsection e/44752?view=Binary.
asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many welfare assessments have been made in each of the current and previous two years on families detained in immigration removal centres; and in how many cases this led to release. [HL115]
The welfare of children detained with their families is reviewed on a continuous basis. For example, at Yarl's Wood, where families with children are held for longer periods, arrangements include the initial screening and assessment on a family's arrival at the centre; a weekly meeting attended by the removal centre's staff, crèche and education staff, healthcare professionals and the social workers seconded to work in the centre to identify whether any child's welfare is a cause of concern; initial and further assessments by healthcare staff, social workers, counsellors or specialists at outside hospitals following referral; the formal reviews of a child's detention each week which consider all the assessments of a child's welfare; and the multidisciplinary staff review conducted on the case of every child whose detention may last longer than 28 days.
The variety of the different assessments and the fact that a child is often the subject of several means that it is possible neither to identify how many separate assessments have been made nor to attribute the release from detention to any one of them.
asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many asylum and immigration cases of family detention have been reviewed by Ministers in each of the current and previous two years; and in how many cases this led to their release. [HL116]
The information requested could only be obtained by the detailed examination of individual case records at disproportionate cost.
Quarterly snapshots are published in the quarterly asylum bulletin, showing the number of people detained under Immigration Act powers on the last Saturday of each quarter. Statistics on the total number of persons recorded as being removed from the UK upon leaving detention each quarter are also published in the quarterly asylum bulletin.
Information on the number of persons detained is published in the quarterly asylum bulletin, available in the House Library and on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1. html.