Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much per hour women detained at Hassockfield Immigration Removal Centre are planned to be paid for the work they carry out.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
Hassockfield immigration removal centre (IRC) will be operated in accordance with the Detention Centre Rules 2001, in addition to published Operating Standards for IRCs and Detention Services Orders (DSO).
Rule 17 of the Detention Centre Rules permits those in detention to engage voluntarily in paid activities. These activities are provided to meet the recreational and intellectual needs of detained individuals. In accordance with Rule 17, pay rates are determined by the Secretary of State for the Home Department. The currently approved rates of pay are £1 per hour and, for specified projects, £1.25 per hour, as set out in the published Detention Services Order 1/2013 ‘Paid Activities’.
External organisations are not permitted to use the paid activity scheme to contract people in immigration detention to carry out work.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the cost per year of running Hassockfield Immigration Removal Centre at maximum capacity.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The costs of the contract to run Hassockfield immigration removal centre are currently commercial in confidence. The Home Office will publish a contract award notice in line with the statutory timelines within the Public Contract Regulations 2015, which will detail the full cost of running the centre.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria her Department used to select Hassockfield as the site for a new immigration removal centre; and which other sites were considered for that planned centre.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The immigration removal estate is kept under ongoing review to ensure that the Home Office has sufficient resilience, geographical footprint and capacity for the men and women it proves necessary to detain for the purposes of removal, while providing value for money.
As part of its plans to manage the closure and return of the Morton Hall immigration removal centre to Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service, the Home Office considered a number of sites for a new immigration removal centre (IRC). Specifically, sites such as the former Campsfield IRC were considered and the Home Office also engaged in discussions with the Ministry of Justice on the availability of surplus sites.
Given the timescales and value for money considerations, acquiring the vacant Hassockfield site to open as an IRC for women was considered the most cost-effective option for maintaining immigration detention capacity.
An Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) will be completed for opening of Hassockfield IRC in line with Public Sector Equality Duties. To ensure that decisions about the development of the site have due regard to eliminating discrimination and inequality, the EIA for Hassockfield will remain ongoing as plans progress to completion. The Home Office will publish the completed EIA in due course.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to undertake an equality impact assessment for the Hassockfield Immigration Removal Centre.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The immigration removal estate is kept under ongoing review to ensure that the Home Office has sufficient resilience, geographical footprint and capacity for the men and women it proves necessary to detain for the purposes of removal, while providing value for money.
As part of its plans to manage the closure and return of the Morton Hall immigration removal centre to Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service, the Home Office considered a number of sites for a new immigration removal centre (IRC). Specifically, sites such as the former Campsfield IRC were considered and the Home Office also engaged in discussions with the Ministry of Justice on the availability of surplus sites.
Given the timescales and value for money considerations, acquiring the vacant Hassockfield site to open as an IRC for women was considered the most cost-effective option for maintaining immigration detention capacity.
An Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) will be completed for opening of Hassockfield IRC in line with Public Sector Equality Duties. To ensure that decisions about the development of the site have due regard to eliminating discrimination and inequality, the EIA for Hassockfield will remain ongoing as plans progress to completion. The Home Office will publish the completed EIA in due course.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which airports her Department plans to use to deport women who have been detained at Hassockfield Immigration Removal Centre.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
Most enforced immigration returns are undertaken using scheduled flights, alongside fare-paying passengers from airports around the UK based on a case by case assessment of the individuals needs and to best meet operational needs and maximise value for money.
This Government’s priority is keeping the people of this country safe, and we make no apology for seeking to remove dangerous foreign criminals and other immigration offenders.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Government has to provide accommodation for women released from Hassockfield Immigration Removal Centre to continue their asylum claims.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute can make an application for support and accommodation whilst their application for asylum is being considered.
All asylum seekers have access to a 24/7 AIRE (Advice, Issue Reporting and Eligibility) service provided for the Home Office by Migrant Help where they can raise any concerns regarding accommodation or support services, and they can get information about how to obtain further support.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has plans for work to be used as a form of recreation for women detained at the proposed Hassockfield Immigration Removal Centre.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
Paid activities are provided in immigration removal centres in accordance with Rule 17 of the Detention Centre Rules 2001 to meet the recreational and intellectual needs of detained individuals. Paid activities are entirely voluntary and are offered in addition to a range of recreational activities, such as educational opportunities, access to a library and gymnasium and religious services.
Hassockfield immigration removal centre (IRC), due to open in autumn 2021 for around 80 women, will offer services and recreational opportunities focused on the specific needs of women and akin to those available at Yarl’s Wood IRC.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Government has to provide accommodation for women released from Hassockfield Immigration Removal Centre to continue their asylum claims.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Dissolution.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with (a) the Refugee Council, (b) local refugee support groups and (c) advocacy organisations prior to the commencement of plans to re-open the former Hassockfield Detention Centre in Medomsley as an Immigration Detention or Removal Centre; and whether alternatives to the incarceration of women who seek refuge in the UK have been assessed.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Home Office has acquired the former Hassockfield Secure Training Centre in County Durham and will open it as an immigration removal centre by the autumn.
Initial discussions with Durham County Council have taken place and will continue throughout the development of plans for the site. Consultations with local councillors, other local stakeholders and interested non-governmental organisations including the Refugee Council, will take place over the coming months.
The former Medomsley Detention Centre was demolished and rebuilt in 1988. Whilst I have every sympathy for victims of historic abuse at the former centre, officials do not have plans to undertake any consultation on the future immigration removal centre.
Now in its second year, the Action Access pilot has provided women who would otherwise be detained with a programme of support in the community, including case management support. We are working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and they have appointed the National Centre for Social Research to independently evaluate this work, once the pilot concludes in March 2021. The evaluation is scheduled for publication in June 2021. We will use the evaluation to inform our future approach to case-management focused alternatives to detention.