asked Her Majesty's Government:

Why they have withheld from publication since September 2006 details of the length of detentions under Immigration Act powers. [HL3167]

Following a change in the system in which information is collected, statistics on all persons detained under sole Immigration Act powers by length of detention are not available after September 2006. Information on minors has only been made available through the examination of individual cases, which would only be possible for adult detainees at disproportionate cost.

Details of the length that children have been held in detention have continued to be published in the quarterly web-based asylum statistics bulletin in table 13.

The UK Border Agency is committed to ensuring its published data are of the highest standards. A robust method for the collection and production of statistics on length of detention is being formulated and data will be published when the agency is satisfied the quality meets its standards.

Published statistics on immigration and asylum are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.