Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many detention places are currently available for foreign nationals awaiting deportation.

Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs) are used flexibly to detain foreign nationals liable for removal from the UK. This includes time-served foreign national offenders, immigration offenders and those who have arrived in the UK illegally. As of 1 September, the Home Office has the capacity to detain around 2,400 people in IRCs, including time-served foreign national offenders awaiting deportation.

The Government takes the protection of the public and escapes from immigration detention extremely seriously. There are robust security measures in all IRCs to prevent residents from escaping.

The Home Office releases data on escapes from immigration detention on an annual basis. The latest published statistics are for 2024. These are available at: Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2025 - GOV.UK.