Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what access detainees in immigration detention centres have to mobile phones, the internet and social media.

Detention Services Order 08/2012 sets out the Home Office’s policy on detainees’ possession of mobile phones in immigration removal centres.

Detainees are able to retain their own mobile telephones throughout their detention, provided their handset has no recording facility and/or access to the internet. Where a detainee’s handset does not comply with these restrictions they are provided with a suitable handset by the immigration removal centre supplier so that they may maintain contact with friends, family and other means of support.

The provision of internet access in immigration removal centres helps detainees to remain in contact with family, friends and legal representatives and to prepare for removal.

Detention Services Order 04/2016 provides guidance on access to the internet. It is a contractual requirement that all immigration removal centres provide detainees with reasonable and regulated access to the internet and IT facilities. There are no plans to enable detainees to access social media.