Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers were deported after having been found to have committed a criminal offence (a) in the UK since entering the country and (b) in a foreign country prior to entering the UK since 2010.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)

The Home Office does publish statistics on enforced returns for those who have claimed asylum since 2010. These returns are published in table RET_05 of the returns summary table which can be found at Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Asylum-related returns in this summary relate to cases where there has been an asylum claim at some stage prior to the return. This will include asylum seekers whose asylum claims have been withdrawn, refused, and who have exhausted any rights of appeal, those returned under third country provisions, as well as those granted asylum/protection, but removed for other reasons (such as criminality). Asylum-related returns broken down by status is not available from published statistics.

Additionally, the published statistics refer to enforced returns which include deportations, as well as cases where a person has breached UK immigration laws, and those removed under other administrative and illegal entry powers that have declined to leave voluntarily. Figures on deportations, which are a subset of enforced returns, are not separately available.

Furthermore, information on someone that has been deported after having been found to have committed a criminal offence in a foreign country prior to entering the UK since 2010 is not separately available from published statistics.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 24 October 2023 to Question 202822 on Offenders: Deportations, if he will publish the number of asylum interviews for foreign national offenders conducted by his Department in each of the last ten years.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

There are currently no plans to publish the number of asylum interviews for foreign national offenders (FNOs).

The Home Office publishes information on FNOs in Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many convicted foreign-born criminals were deported in the last 12 months.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The Home Office publishes data on returns in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum-related returns by return type (including enforced returns of which ‘deportations’ are a legally defined subset) are published in table Ret_05 of the ‘Returns summary tables’. The ‘contents’ sheet contains an overview of all available data on returns. Data on returns of Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) are published in table Ret_D03 of the ‘Returns detailed datasets’ and are broken down by nationality not by country of birth. Data on FNO returns aren’t broken down by return type however the vast majority will be enforced returns, of which ‘deportations’ are a legally defined subset.

Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data for returns relates to end March 2023.

Asylum-related returns relate to cases where there has been an asylum claim at some stage prior to the return. This will include asylum seekers whose asylum claims have been withdrawn, refused, and who have exhausted any rights of appeal, those returned under third country provisions, as well as those granted asylum/protection, but removed for other reasons (such as criminality).

Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department holds on the number of foreign national offenders who have returned to the UK since being deported for the first time since 2010.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

Information on the number of foreign national offenders who have returned to the UK since being deported for the first time since is not available from published statistics.

Information on the number of foreign national offenders who have returned from the UK is available by nationality on a quarterly basis from Table Ret_D03 in Returns and detention datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of Foreign National Offender Asylum Interview Records were conducted within her Department's target in each of the last ten years.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The information requested is not available from published statistics. There is no individual Key Performance Indicator relating to conducting asylum interviews for foreign national offenders.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much the resettlement grant under the Facilitated Return Scheme was in each year since 2015.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The Information requested about the Facilitated Return Scheme since 2015 is not available from published statistics.

Information on the number of foreign national offenders that were returned from the UK under the Facilitated Return Scheme is available from Table FNO_09 in Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications to the Facilitated Return Scheme were made in each year since 2015.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

Information on the number of applications to the Facilitated Return Scheme that were made in each year since 2015 is not available in a reportable format.

Information on the number of foreign national offenders that were returned from the UK under the Facilitated Return Scheme is available from Table FNO_09 in Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to deport foreign nationals engaged in terrorist-related activity.

Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)

The safety and security of the UK is the Government’s highest priority. We take robust action to remove foreign nationals engaged in terrorist-related activity from the UK wherever possible. This requires careful consideration on the specific circumstances of each case, and complex and often sensitive engagement with our international partners. We are also frequently required to vigorously defend our immigration decision-making through the Courts process.

Where we cannot remove such individuals, the Government and operational partners have a range of powers at their disposal, amongst them criminal prosecution and where criminal prosecution is not possible Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (TPIMs), to manage the terrorist threat and protect our national security.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2023 to Question 193669 on Offenders: Deportation, what information her Department holds on the number of applications for the Facilitated Return Scheme (a) that were considered and (b) for which a decision was taken by her Department within 20 days of submission of that application in each of the last five years.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

Information on the number of applications for the Facilitated Return Scheme that are (a) considered and (b) decided within 20 days is not available from published statistics.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's policy is on the deportation of foreign nationals convicted of violent crime to their country of origin if it is unsafe.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

This Government puts the rights of the British public before those of criminals, and we are clear that foreign criminals should be deported from the UK wherever it is legal and practical to do so.

Under the UK Borders Act 2007, a deportation order must be made where a foreign national has been convicted of an offence and received a custodial sentence of 12 months or more. This is subject to several exceptions, including where to do so would be a breach of a person’s ECHR rights or the UK’s obligations under the Refugee Convention. Individuals are only returned to their country of origin when the Home Office and, where applicable, the Courts deem it is safe to do so. Each individual assessment is made against the background of any relevant caselaw and the latest available country information.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2023 to Question 191940 on Offenders: Deportation, what proportion of applications for the Facilitated Return Scheme are (a) considered and (b) decided within 20 days.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

Information on the proportion of applications for the Facilitated Return Scheme that are (a) considered and (b) decided within 20 days is not available from published statistics.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to response to the report of the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration ‘An inspection of the Home Office’s operations to effect the removal of Foreign National Offenders’, published on 29 June, which described the Home Office’s data management system for criminal casework as “unacceptable”; what action they are taking to create an overarching strategy within the Home Office for the management of its casework system; and how they are working to build public trust in their overall management of illegal immigration into the UK in the light of the problems identified in the report.

Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth

The report acknowledges that many of the issues raised at the time of the inspection were already being addressed by the Home Office.

Work has already commenced to address concerns raised in the report. Since January 2023, casework resource has increased, with a dedicated Custodial Decision Team established to focus on ensuring decisions are made early in the process to drive up removals directly from prison. Ringfenced resource has been put in place to improve collaboration with Asylum and with the Immigration Enforcement Competent Authority, who consider Modern Slavery claims.

There is a wider strategy for improvement in Management Information being delivered as part of the transition to a new immigration caseworking system, including new workflow tools and modern data analysis capabilities.

Last year, under the Nationality and Borders Act (NABA) 2022, we expanded the early removal scheme for FNOs to allow them to be removed directly from prison from a maximum of 9 months to 12 months before the end of their custodial sentence. The Act also allows any FNO who receives a custodial sentence of 12 months or more to be disqualified from the recovery and reflection period available to victims of modern slavery.

We are going further to ensure that FNOs cannot frustrate their removal process. Our Illegal Migration Bill, which is currently passing through the House of Lords, proposes that the disqualification from protection for modern slavery victims applies to all FNOs who receive a custodial sentence of any length.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2023 to Question 191940 on Offenders: Deportation, for what reasons her Department do not hold data on the average waiting time to return foreign offenders to their country of origin under the Facilitated Return Scheme.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The average time to return a Foreign National Offender who has been accepted for the Facilitated Return Scheme (FRS) is not available as automated data and would require a manual check of individual cases to calculate the average. The cost of collating the data would be disproportionate.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign nationals given sentences of imprisonment for public protection have been deported in each of the last five years.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The Home Office publishes data on returns in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on returns of foreign national offenders (FNOs) are published in table Ret_D03 of the ‘Returns detailed datasets’.

Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to December 2022.

An FNO is someone who is not a British citizen and is, or was, convicted in the UK of any criminal offence, or convicted abroad for a serious criminal offence. We do not publish information about whether FNOs have served prison time or not.

Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how her Department decides when to action deportation orders to remove foreign criminals from the UK.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

Under the UK Borders Act 2007, a deportation order must be made where a foreign national has been convicted of an offence and received a custodial sentence of 12 months or more.

In addition, a foreign national who has been convicted of an offence that has caused serious harm, who is a persistent offender or who represents a threat to national security may be considered for deportation under the Immigration Act 1971, where it is conducive to the public good.

This is subject to several exceptions, including where to do so would be a breach of a person’s ECHR rights or the UK’s obligations under the Refugee Convention.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average waiting time is to return foreign offenders to their country of origin under the Facilitated Return Scheme; and whether there is a target time for such cases.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The Facilitated Return Scheme (FRS) offers all foreign national offenders (FNOs) with a determinate prison sentence the opportunity to volunteer to return to their country of origin.

The average waiting time to return foreign offenders to their country of origin under FRS is not obtainable from our current database. Whilst we aim to consider or decide all applications within 20 days, there is no specific target for removal.

This is a practical solution which saves the taxpayer considerable amount of money in the long run and means FNOs can be removed as soon as possible, denying them the opportunity to re-offend.

While we make every effort to ensure that a foreign national offender’s removal by deportation coincides, as far as possible, with their release from prison on completion of sentence, we can face significant and complex challenges when seeking to deport them to their country of origin, including obtaining valid travel documents.

Published information on FRS was published in December 2021 and is available from The Facilitated Return Scheme (FRS) (publishing.service.gov.uk).

Found: Asylum Chamber), 2013/14 to 2023/24 Q2 D_1_IRC Number of Immigration Removal Centre Foreign National Offenders

Found: Asylum Chamber), 2013/14 to 2023/24 Q1 D_1_IRC Number of Immigration Removal Centre Foreign National Offenders