To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will respond to the report “Outsourcing Abuse” by Baroness O'Loan; whether they will publish their response; and whether they will take steps to ensure that all complaints of maltreatment will be fully investigated. [HL2912]

Baroness O'Loan was appointed by the Home Secretary to review allegations of systematic abuse of immigration detainees by escorting staff that were published in a dossier entitled Outsourcing Abuse. Her review centred on investigations into the complaints detailed in the dossier and the UK Border Agency's complaints and investigation systems.

Baroness O'Loan's findings were published on 12 March 2010. She found that there was no evidence to substantiate the central allegation of systematic abuse by escorting staff. At the same time, she recognised that many of the concerns she had about the way a number of the investigations into complaints had been handled in the past had been addressed already by the agency following a decision to transfer responsibility to its Professional Standards Unit in February 2008. She none the less made a number of recommendations to strengthen the supervision of staff and improve our complaints handling further.

In the report's foreword, the chief executive of the UK Border Agency welcomed Baroness O'Loan's report. Her response can be found on the UK Border Agency's website.