Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many foreign national prisoners have been released under the (1) Early Removal Scheme (ERS), and (2) Tariff-Expired Removal Scheme (TERS).

As of 31 December 2022, there were 9,797 Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) held in prisons in England and Wales, with the top ten origin countries being Albania, Poland, Romania, Ireland (Republic of), Lithuania, Jamaica, Pakistan, Somalia, Portugal, and Iraq.

We do not disaggregate prison run costs by nationality and the cost to hold individuals depends on category. Our unit costs for holding prisoners are published on Gov.uk alongside the HM Prison and Probation Service Annual Reports and Accounts.

Under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS) and Tariff Expired Removal Scheme (TERS) FNOs are removed from the UK, they are not released from their sentence and are liable to continue their sentence should they return to the UK. ERS applies to those serving determinate sentences, and TERS to those serving indeterminate sentences (Life or Imprisonment for Public Protection, which stopped being used in 2012).

Between January 2010 and June 2022, the Home Office removed 22,707 FNOs through ERS with 1,322 of those in the year ending June 2022. Since its implementation in May 2012, 571 FNOs have been removed through TERS. The disparity in numbers under the two schemes is due to there being significantly fewer FNOs with indeterminate sentences than determinate, and the need for the tariff to be expired before they can be removed.

The below table shows the number of FNOs who escaped from custody over the last 5 years. A prisoner escapes when they pass beyond the perimeter of a secure prison or the control of escorting staff. All three from 2017-18 were recaptured within 30 days.

* Figures of 1 and 2 are supressed

A Foreign National Offender may access legal aid if they satisfy the relevant eligibility criteria: their legal issue is in scope, as set out in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, and they pass relevant means and merits tests. For immigration matters, all immigration detainees held in prison can access 30 minutes of legally aided legal advice. This provides a functional equivalent to the advice available to detainees held in immigration removal centres. Broader access to public funds would be based on the immigration status of an individual.

The Bill of Rights will strengthen the wider framework around appeals made on Article 8 grounds (the right to private and family life) by foreign criminals subject to deportation. Clause 8 of the Bill sets out how the courts should consider the compatibility of new deportation laws.

Clause 20 of the Bill of Rights establishes a threshold for successful appeals on Article 6 grounds. This new provision is intended to strengthen the existing approach in this area.