Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is her Department's policy to reserve the right to continue to use Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre in the event that the plan to establish a new detention facility at Glasgow Airport does not go ahead.

The contract with GEO Ltd to operate Dungavel immigration removal centre (IRC) does not contain a sunset clause. It is extendable for 12 months at a time, until September 2019. It is currently extended to September 2017.

The closure of Dungavel IRC is dependent on the success of the planning application for the new short term holding facility near Glasgow airport, currently under consideration by Renfrewshire Council.

The Government announced that it intended to close Dungavel when the new short term holding facility is ready, and therefore it is the Government’s policy to reserve its right to continue to use Dungavel for the purposes of immigration detention should the planning application be unsuccessful.