Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria her Department used to select Hassockfield as the site for a new immigration removal centre; and which other sites were considered for that planned centre.

The immigration removal estate is kept under ongoing review to ensure that the Home Office has sufficient resilience, geographical footprint and capacity for the men and women it proves necessary to detain for the purposes of removal, while providing value for money.

As part of its plans to manage the closure and return of the Morton Hall immigration removal centre to Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service, the Home Office considered a number of sites for a new immigration removal centre (IRC). Specifically, sites such as the former Campsfield IRC were considered and the Home Office also engaged in discussions with the Ministry of Justice on the availability of surplus sites.

Given the timescales and value for money considerations, acquiring the vacant Hassockfield site to open as an IRC for women was considered the most cost-effective option for maintaining immigration detention capacity.

An Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) will be completed for opening of Hassockfield IRC in line with Public Sector Equality Duties. To ensure that decisions about the development of the site have due regard to eliminating discrimination and inequality, the EIA for Hassockfield will remain ongoing as plans progress to completion. The Home Office will publish the completed EIA in due course.