Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign nationals are held in the prison estate by nationality.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Data on how many Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) are held in custody are published in Offender Management Statistics Quarterly: Offender management statistics quarterly: July to September 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). For data on the prison population by nationality, see prison population table 1_7.
The latest published data from 31 December 2023 shows that there were 10,423 (3,333 remand, 6,697 sentenced and 393 non-criminal) FNOs held in custody; representing 12% of the total prison population. The most common nationalities after British Nationals in prisons are Albanian (13% of the FNO prison population), Polish (9%), Romanian (7%), Irish (6%) and Jamaican (4%).
The removal of FNOs is a Government priority and my department continues to work closely with the Home Office to maximise the number of deportations.
Published figures show that FNO returns have increased following the pandemic, in the latest 12-month period (ending December 2023) by 27% when compared to the previous 12-month period. Between January 2019 and December 2023 17,795 FNOs have been removed.
The proportion of FNOs held in custody is 12% of the total prison population and has remained stable in recent years while the overall prison population has grown.
On 11 March, the Government set out a plan to increase the number of FNOs removed through:
These actions build on our expansion of the Early Removal Scheme to allow for removal of FNOs up to 18 months before the end of the custodial element of their sentence, and expediting prisoner transfers with priority countries such as Albania and seeking to conclude new transfer agreements with partner countries.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish a breakdown of offences committed by foreign nationals held in the prison estate.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The requested information can be found in the attached spreadsheet.
The removal of Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) is a Government priority and my department continues to work closely with the Home Office to maximise the number of deportations.
Published figures show that FNO returns have increased following the pandemic, in the latest 12-month period (ending December 2023) by 27% when compared to the previous 12-month period. Between January 2019 and December 2023 17,795 FNOs have been removed.
The proportion of FNOs held in custody is 12% of the total prison population and has remained stable in recent years while the overall prison population has grown.
On 11 March, the Government set out a plan to increase the number of FNOs removed through:
These actions build on our expansion of the Early Removal Scheme to allow for removal of FNOs up to 18 months before the end of the custodial element of their sentence, and expediting prisoner transfers with priority countries such as Albania and seeking to conclude new transfer agreements with partner countries.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to increase prison capacity.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government is currently delivering 10,000 new prison places by the end of 2025 and have a long-term commitment to build 20,00 places overall, which is the largest prison building programme in Britain since the Victorian era. We have already delivered c.5,900 of these, including through our two brand new modern and secure prisons. A third prison will open next year, and two more have planning permission; as a result, the total number of prison places is significantly higher than in 2010 and will rise further.
Meanwhile, with a new prisoner transfer agreement with Albania and expansion of the Early Removal Scheme, strong and decisive action is being taken to drive down the number of Foreign National Offenders in our prisons.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of, and what action they are taking to reduce, overcrowding in prisons in England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
In prisons where we have crowding in place, a rigorous cell certification process is undertaken that ensures the use of cells is subject to formal assessment of safety and decency.
We continue to pursue the package of longer-term measures the Lord Chancellor announced on 16 October 2023 to reform the justice system and continue to address the prison capacity challenges. The measures include: the extension of the Early Removal Scheme, introducing a presumption to suspend sentences of 12 months or less, curtailing the licence period for IPP sentences and extending the use of Home Detention Curfew. On 11 March, the Lord Chancellor announced the next steps in our plan, to allow us to go further and faster in removing foreign national offenders (FNOs). This includes expediting prisoner transfers with our priority partners such as Albania, and the creation of a new taskforce across the Home Office and Ministry of Justice to change the way we process FNO cases radically.
To meet pressing demand, we are building c.20,000 modern, rehabilitative prison places – the biggest prison build programme since the Victorian era. We have already delivered c.5,900 of these, including through our two new 1,700 places prisons, HMP Five Wells and HMP Fosse Way, and c.590 Rapid Deployment Cells across 11 sites. By the end of 2025, we are on track to have delivered around 10,000 places in total.
The Government will continue to monitor the evolving situation with demand for prison places carefully, so that we can make sure we have the right approaches in place to maintain the capacity required for a safe and effective criminal justice system.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the house arrest of the leader of the Democratic Party of Albania.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Sali Berisha, whose position as Chair of the Democratic Party is contested within the party, was charged with corruption by Albania's Special Prosecutor's Office in October 2023 and currently is under house arrest. It would be inappropriate to comment further while the legal process is underway.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has met the Ambassador of the Republic of Albania in the last six months.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
I [Minister for Europe] met Albania's new Ambassador to the UK, Dr Uran Ferizi, on Monday 26 February.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what support his Department is providing to the Armenian government to bolster democracy in that country.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The United Kingdom strongly supports democracy in Armenia. I [Minister Docherty] discussed domestic reforms with Armenia's Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, during my visit to the South Caucasus in November last year. We provide Armenia support through The Good Governance Fund (GGF), including up to £2.3 million this year for programmes that are focused on strengthening and promoting inclusive governance, economic growth and supporting safeguards of democracy in Armenia.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many student visas were issued to Albanian nationals in each year since 2021.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office publishes data on Student visas by nationality in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the outcomes of Student visas are published in table ‘Vis_D02’ of the detailed entry clearance visas dataset. Selecting ‘Student’ from the visa type subgroup filter will output data on Student visas. Nationality and time frames can also be filtered. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates from 2005 up to the end of September 2023.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what dates he plans to publish the inspections completed by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration on (a) Country of Origin Information – Thematic review of statelessness, (b) Afghan resettlement schemes, (c) ePassport gates, (d) the use of powers to deprive British nationals of citizenship, (e) contingency asylum accommodation for families with children in Northern Ireland, (f) Border Force operations at Portsmouth International Port, (g) Border Force’s fast parcel operations, (h) Border Force practices and procedures in relation to firearms, (i) the use of hotels for housing unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, (j) illegal working enforcement activity, (k) country of origin information, Albania and Pakistan, (l) asylum casework and (m) the immigration system as it relates to the social care sector.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The department takes every inspection report seriously and considers the findings and recommendations carefully. This can sometimes mean the publication process is longer than expected. We will publish the reports in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Prison Transfer Agreements were in place in each year since 2010.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The removal of Foreign National Offenders is a Government priority and my department continues to work closely with the Home Office to maximise the number of deportations.
The total number of voluntary and compulsory Prisoner Transfer Agreements agreed since 2010 is set out below. For PTAs, the receiving country and their judiciary needs to consider and accept each individual transfer case.
Year: | Total PTA agreements |
2010 | 99 |
2011 | 99 |
2012 | 100 |
2013 | 100 |
2014 | 101 |
2015 | 102 |
2016 | 103 |
2017 | 103 |
2018 | 104 |
2019 | 106 |
2020 | 106 |
2021 | 107 |
2022 | 108 |
2023 | 110 |
2024 | 110 |
We are looking to negotiate new Prisoner Transfer Agreements with key EU Member States and wider-world countries. We signed a Prisoner Transfer Agreement with the Philippines in October 2023, and made a new arrangement with Albania in May 2023 to increase the number of transfers under the agreement signed in May 2022.