Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer 13 March 2018 to Question 131298 on Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre; of the 98 reports made by a medical practitioner under Rule 35 in Yarl's Wood during Q3 of 2017, how many caseworker reviews of the appropriateness of continued detention led to a detainee's release from detention.

Rule 35 of the Detention Centre Rules 2001 sets out the process by which doctors in immigration removal centres must report to the Home Office cases in which they have concerns that:

• a detainee’s health is likely to be injuriously affected by detention (35(1));
• a detainee is suspected of having suicidal intentions (35(2)); or
• a detainee may have been the victim of torture (35(3)).

On receipt of a Rule 35 report, the Home Office caseworker must review the appropriateness of the detainee’s continued detention in conjunction with consideration of the adults at risk in immigration detention policy.

The total number of releases from all Immigration Removal Centres (IRC) because of Rule 35 during Q3 2017 is 102 and is published as part of the Transparency publication under the category ‘Reports made by a medical practitioner under Rule 35 by place of detention’. This can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data

Management information indicates that of the 102 total releases in Q3 2017, 26 of these were from Yarl’s Wood IRC. This information has not been assured to the standard of Official Statistics and as internal management information is subject to change.