Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many legal advice surgeries will take place per week under the Detained Duty Advice Scheme at Derwentside immigration removal centre; and from what date those services will commence.

Applicants were notified that the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) had cancelled the procurement process for the Detained Duty Advice Scheme (DDAS) at Derwentside in its entirety on 16 November 2021.

This decision was taken as a result of receiving insufficient compliant tenders that met the minimum requirements detailed in the procurement process.

To provide access to DDAS services for Clients at Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) from 1 January 2022, the LAA will seek to continue the existing contingency arrangements, which were established on 18 August 2021 (but which have not yet been used due to the postponement of the IRC opening), for a period of 6 months (until 30 June 2022). During this time the LAA will review the volume of Clients at the IRC and how services are being delivered to inform its approach to procuring these services.

Under the contingency arrangements, 2 surgeries per week are planned for DDAS at Derwentside and appointments will be available as soon as detainees are being held there.