Immigrants: Detainees

(asked on 4th July 2019) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans he has to reduce the number of people held in UK immigration removal centres.


Answered by
Caroline Nokes Portrait
Caroline Nokes
This question was answered on 9th July 2019

In the year ending March 2019 24,333 individuals entered the detention estate which is the lowest level since comparable records began in 2009. In the same period 71% of detainees were held for 28 days or less and 93% for less than four months.

The Government expects that changes in policy and operational approaches will lead to a reduction in the number of those detained, and the duration of detention before removal, in turn improving the welfare of those detained.

The Government is committed to using detention sparingly and only when necessary. The Home Office has taken a systematic approach to modernising and rationalising the immigration detention estate, ensuring the geographical footprint and resilience required to meet our future needs. By this summer the estate will be almost 40% smaller than it was four years ago and of significantly higher quality.

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