Questions
Asked by
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many foreign prisoners have been freed without being considered for deportation in each of the past five years. [HL2140]
In 2006, 1,013 individuals were identified as having been released from prison without consideration by the UK Border Agency for deportation and by the end of 2006 all had been considered for deportation. Steady progress continues to be made on these cases despite their age and complexity.
The chief executive of the UK Border Agency has provided regular updates on this group of cases to the Home Affairs Committee. She reported in February this year that 782 of the 1,013 cases have been concluded, 371 of which have been removed or deported from the United Kingdom. Also, 125 cases are still going through the deportation process and a further 25 are still serving custodial sentences, while 81 are still to be located.
As the chief executive also made clear in her latest letter to the HASC, the UK Border Agency receives around 850 referrals a month, about half of which meet the criteria for deportation. In a caseload of this size, there are challenges in referral and consideration for deportation particularly around short-term and remand prisoners. Improved processes with the courts and NOMS and a new notification and recording system mean that the UK Border Agency is able to identify cases where the referral did not take place as it should. This system has identified five cases in the more/most serious category where referral did not take place as it should and consideration for deportation was pursued retrospectively.
Asked by
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many foreign national prisoners who have completed their sentences are currently resident in United Kingdom prisons. [HL2143]
In 2009, for an average month, approximately 550 foreign national prisoners were detained in prison beyond the end of their sentence—so-called time-served prisoners. In addition, for an average month, approximately 1,250 foreign national prisoners were detained in an immigration removal centre.
This information is from internal management information systems and should therefore be treated as provisional and subject to change.