Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the feasibility of releasing detainees from immigration detention centres to (a) prevent and (b) contain the transmission of covid-19 in those centres.

The safety and health of those in immigration removal centres is of the utmost importance but we remain committed to removing foreign national offenders or those who violate our immigration rules. Detention plays a key role in securing our borders and maintaining effective immigration control.

Decisions to detain an individual are made on a case by case basis and are based on all of the information known at the time of the review. As circumstances of the case change, detention is reviewed in light of these changes and release may then become appropriate.

The Home Office is following all Public Health England guidance and have robust contingency plans in place including measures such as protective isolation to minimise the risk of COVID-19 spreading in the immigration detention estate. Further measures including shielding, single occupancy rooms and the cessation of social visits have been introduced in line with the Government direction on social distancing.

There are currently no cases of Covid-19 in the immigration detention estate.