Prisons: Immigration Officers
(asked on 9th October 2026) - View Source
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visits by Immigration Officers have taken place in each Scottish prison in each year since 2015.
The Home Office does not publish the number of visits conducted by immigration officers (IOs) in UK prisons.
It may be useful to note that Immigration Prison Team (IPT) IOs do a significant number of engagements by virtual means, particularly across the Scottish Prison Service estate.
Consequently, the number of physical visits conducted by IOs would not accurately reflect the work IPT do across the prison estate.
However, as of 2 September 2026, there were 93 IOs employed by Foreign National Offender Returns Command. These officers are located within the IPT, which covers all prisons in the UK. Most of the IPT’s officers are embedded in prison locations. However, some are located within Home Office (HO) premises, from where they conduct prison visits.
The number of IOs embedded in a hub and the prisons they cover are:
Embedded Hub | Prisons Covered | Number of IOs (some of which will be part-time) |
HMPs Pentonville and The Mount | HMPs Pentonville & The Mount Feltham YOI HMP Ford HMP Lewes | 8 |
HMP The Verne | HMP The Verne HMP Ashfield HMP Bristol HMP Cardiff HMP Channings Wood HMP Eastwood Park HMP Erlestoke HMP Exeter HMP Guys Marsh HMP Leyhill HMP Parc HMP Swansea HMP Usk HMP Prescoed | 6 |
HMP Highpoint | HMP Highpoint HMP Bure HMP Chelmsford HMP Hollesley Bay HMP LIttlehey HMP Norwich HMP Peterborough (Female) HMP Warren Hill HMP Wayland HMP Whiteland | 6 |
HMP Hewell | HMP Hewell HMP Birmingham HMP Brinsford HMP Dovegate HMP Drake Hall HMP Featherstone HMP Foston Hall HMP Long Lartin HMP Oakwood HMP Onley HMP Rye Hill HMP Stafford HMP Stoke Heath HMP Sudbury HMP Swinfen Hall | 9 |
HMP Risley | HMP Risley HMP Altcourse HMP Berwyn HMP Buckley Hall HMP Forest Bank HMP Garth HMP Haverigg HMP Hindley HMP Kirkham HMP Lancaster Farms HMP Liverpool HMP Manchester HMP Preston HMP Styal HMP Thorn Cross HMP Wymott | 8 |
HMP Moorland | HMP Moorland HMP Fosse Way HMP Gartree HMP Hatfield HMP Hull HMP Humber HMP Leicester HMP Lindholme HMP Nottingham HMP Whatton HMP Ranby | 6 |
HMP Maidstone | HMP Maidstone HMP Cookham Wood HMP East Sutton Park HMP Elmley HMP Rochester HMP Standford Hill HMP Swaleside | 9 |
HMP Huntercombe | HMP Aylesbury HMP Bullingdon HMP Bedford HMP Five Wells HMP Grendon HMP Spring Hill HMP Woodhill | 7 |
HMP Wormwood Scrubs | HMP Wormwood Scrubs HMP Bronzefield HMP Winchester | 6 |
HMP Wandsworth | HMP Wandsworth HMP Brixton HMP Highdown | 6 |
HMP Morton Hall | HMP Morton Hall HMP Lincoln HMP Stocken HMP Lowdham Grange HMP North Sea Camp HMP Peterborough (Male) | 6 |
HMP Barlinnie | HMP Barlinnie HMP Addiewell HMP Castle Huntly HMP Cornton Vale & YOI HMP Dumfries HMP Edinburgh HMP Glenochil HMP Greenock HMP Kilmarnock HMP Low Moss HMP Perth & YOI HMP Shotts HMP Stirling Polmont YOI | 5 |
The two teams below are not embedded in any HMP location, but are based at HO locations and deploy staff to HMP locations as required:
Embedded Hub | Prisons Covered | Number of IOs (some of which will be part-time) |
HMPs Thameside, Belmarsh and Isis (2RS) | HMPs Thameside, Belmarsh and Isis HMP Coldingley HMP Downview HMP Isle of Wight HMP Send | 5 |
Leeds Mobile (Leeds WSC) | HMP Askham HMP Deerbolt HMP Doncaster HMP Durham HMP Frankland HMP Full Sutton HMP Holme House HMP Kirklevington Grange HMP Low Newton HMP New Hall HMP Northumberland HMP Wakefield HMP Wealstun HMP Werrington HMP Wetherby N Ireland HMP Hydebank Wood HMP Maghaberry HMP Magilligan | 5 + 1 NI based |