Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is the Government's policy that the private plane chartered from Stansted to Poland to remove EU nationals on 30 April 2020 was essential travel during the covid-19 outbreak; and what measures were taken to ensure social distancing on that flight.

We routinely help people with no right to remain in the UK return to their country of origin and we are committed to removing foreign national offenders wherever possible.

We take the welfare of those in our care very seriously. A safer system of work was adapted in line with Public Health England guidance; this included social distancing in transit and on the flight and appropriate Personal Protective Equipment for both escorting staff and detainees.