Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many women recorded as pregnant have been held in immigration detention since the Immigration Act 2016 came into force; and of those, how many left detention to be removed from the UK.

The Home Office keeps under review the statistics that are published in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, balancing user needs against burdens on data suppliers. We do not propose to publish statistical information routinely on the detention of pregnant women.

Through section 60 of the Immigration Act 2016, which came into force on 12 July 2016, we have placed a 72 hour limit on the detention of pregnant women for the purposes of removal, extendable to up to a week in total with Ministerial authorisation.

It may not always be appropriate for healthcare professionals to disclose confidential medical information that the patient has asked not to be disclosed. Subject to these limitations, Home Office management information indicates that 47 pregnant women were detained in the immigration detention estate between 12 July 2016 and 30 June 2017. For the same period this resulted in 8 pregnant women being removed from the UK. This is provisional management information that has not been assured to the standard of official statistics.

The section 60 limitations, along with a new policy on adults at risk in detention, and other improvements to case working processes, represent a comprehensive package of safeguards for pregnant women in the immigration system.