Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will take steps to ensure that all persons detained under immigration powers who claim to be stateless or whose nationality is unclear or disputed can access free legal (a) advice on their eligibility to make an application under Part 14 of the Immigration Rules and (b) assistance to make such an application where there is merit in so doing.

The Home Office does not detain those who are stateless who cannot be removed to any other country.

We will only detain persons where they can be removed within a reasonable timeframe and issues regarding statelessness or nationality disputes are considered in assessing whether detention is appropriate.

The Government has no plans to provide detainees with advice on the possibility of applying to remain in the UK as a stateless person because those in detention are considered to be removable and as such admissible to another country for purposes of residence there.

All detainees are made aware of their right to legal representation, and how they can obtain such representation, within 24 hours of their arrival at an immigration removal centre (IRC). The Legal Aid Agency operates legal advice surgeries across the detention estate in England, with detainees receiving up to 30 minutes of advice without reference to financial eligibility or merits of their case. There is no restriction on the number of surgeries a detainee may attend. If a detainee requires substantive advice on a matter which is in scope of legal aid then full legal advice can be provided.

Detainees also have regulated access to the internet under the requirements set out in Detention Services Order DSO 04/2016 (Internet access). This enables them to independently identify contact details for immigration legal advisors and to make an application for Stateless Leave. Legal reference material is stocked in all IRC libraries and each IRC has a welfare officer who can signpost detainees to information on how to access legal advice.