PQs - July 2018
Parliamentary Questions asked of Government and answered in July 2018:
30 July 2018: HL 9579 (Immigrants: Detainees)
Baroness Hamwee (Liberal Democrat) asked the Government whether all of the 44 children held in immigration detention, in 2017, were held with their families immediately prior to return; whether all were held at Tinsley House; and whether any were detained for longer than 72 hours. Baroness Williams of Trafford replied that "11 children were removed from the UK, with five being returned from Gatwick Pre-Departure Accommodation and six from the Family Unit within Tinsley House IRC. All 11 children who were returned were held with their families prior to return for less than 72 hours."
24 July 2018: HC 166053 (Immigrants: Detainees)
Joan Ryan (Labour) asked the Home Secretary how many cases there were of people being identified as an adult at risk in immigration detention between 1 August 2017 and 10 July 2018 (resulting from a Rule 35 report) by level of risk and month, and how many were subsequently released. Minister for Immigration Caroline Nokes replied "The way adults at risk data is currently recorded for provisional management information is under review and therefore data is particularly susceptible to change. At this time, the information requested could only be obtained and quality assured at a disproportionate cost."
24 July 2018: HC 166045 (Detention Centres: Children)
Harriet Harman (Labour) asked how many children have been held in immigration detention centres in the UK in each of the last eight years. Minister for Immigration Caroline Nokes provided this information from the government website.
Year Number of children entering detention
2017 42
2016 103
2015 163
2014 128
2013 228
2012 242
2011 127
2010 436
19 July 2018: HC 164252 (Immigrants: Detainees)
Harriet Harman (Labour) asked the Home Secretary, how many claims of compensation for wrongful immigration detention were received and successful in each of the last five years; and how much did this cost the public purse? Caroline Nokes replied on behalf of the Home Office, providing information from a letter sent by Permanent Secretary Philip Rutnam to Chair of Home Affairs Committee Yvette Cooper, showing that between 2012 and 2017, 867 people successfully claimed financial compensation (totally £21.2 million) as a result of being wrongfully detained.
19 July 2018: HC 164253 (Immigrants: Detainees)
Harriet Harman (Labour) asked what the nationalities were of people held in immigration detention centres in the UK in each of the last three years. Minister for Immigration Caroline Nokes provided information from the government website, showing the nationalities of those held. While these statistics give accurate lists, top nationalities entering detention in 2017 included: 753 from Afghanistan, 2,250 from Albania, 1,361 from Bangladesh, 942 from China, 2,126 from India, 928 from Iran, 1,003 from Iraq, 2,337 from Pakistan, 1,266 from Poland, 1,835 from Romania and 771 from Sudan.
18 July 2018: HC 138939 (Immigrants: Detainees)
Harriet Harman (Labour) asked under what statute people of the Windrush generation were detained. Minister for Immigration Caroline Nokes replied "Immigration detention decisions are made under powers in Schedules 2 and 3 to the Immigration Act 1971, section 62 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 or section 36 of the UK Borders Act 2007."
17 July 2018: HC 163532 (Immigrants: Detainees)
Mary Creagh (Labour) asked how many children have been detained in Immigration Removal Centres in each year for which information is available. Minister for Immigration Caroline Nokes provided the latest statistics from the government website. (These statistics likely do not include young people wrongfully detained and later found to be underage via an age dispute case). In the first quarter of 2018, 17 children entered detention.
Year Number of children entering detention
2017 42
2016 103
2015 163
2014 128
2013 228
2012 242
2011 127
2010 436
2009 1,119
16 July 2018: HC Oral Questions Volume 645 (Immigration Detention: Children)
Mary Creagh (Labour) raised the issue of the treatment of children of parents who are in immigration detention. Minister for Immigration Caroline Nokes said that "we do all we can to keep families together" and that children are separated from both parents by detention only "in exceptional circumstances". Mary Creagh said there was "compelling evidence of harm caused to children by the indefinite detention of their parents" and that separations were "arbitrary and cruel". She said that the Home Office "has no idea how many children are currently separated" from their parents by detention. She called on the Minister for Immigration to "stop this unlawful practice, tell us how many children are affected and reunite them with their families". Caroline Nokes replied, saying that only 44 children went into detention in the last year (rather than responding to the questions about family separation through detention of the parent). Neil Gray (SNP) said that Bail for Immigration Detainees has represented 155 parents separated from their children while in immigration detention and called on the Government to stop the practice. Caroline Nokes cited cases where family separation has already occured because the foreign-born parent has received a custodial sentence. Shadow Minister for Immigration Afzal Khan referred to the case of a man who received compensation after being separated from his daughter while detained and called on the Government to "look again at indefinite detention, and at the use of detention more widely". Caroline Nokes again made reference to "pre-existing separation" and said that "the Home Office has acknowledged the mistakes that were made in the case he mentioned"
16 July 2018: HC Oral Questions Volume 645 (Topical Questions)
During Topical Questions for the Home Office, Paul Sweeney (Labour) raised the issue of his constituent, detained by the Home Office even though he had been recognised as a victim of trafficking. Minister for Immigration Caroline Nokes said that she would look closely at the case but that "every case must now go through a single detention gatekeeper". She also confirmed that the Home Secretary would be putting out his response to the latest Shaw review before Summer recess.
16 July 2018: HC 162622 (Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre)
Layla Moran (Liberal Democrats) asked the Home Secretary what recent assessment he has made of adequacy of conditions at Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre after Caroline Nokes visited the centre on 28th June. Caroline Nokes referred Layla Moran only to the HMIP and IMB reports on Campsfield House, saying that "The IMB’s report for 2016, published in April 2017, recognised that Campsfield House is generally well run and that it is a safe and secure environment for detainees who are treated with respect, care and consideration."
16 July 2018: HC 162581 (Immigrants: Detainees)
Kate Hollern (Labour) asked what estimates have been made of the number of families where family members are held in separate immigration detention centres. Minister for Immigration Caroline Nokes refused to provide the information saying that it "could only be supplied at disproportionate cost."
12 July 2018: HL 9057 (Immigrants: Detainees)
Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour) asked the Government how many people were wrongfully detained under immigration powers between 2012 and 2017; and, of those, how many were part of the Windrush generation. Baroness Williams of Trafford replied on behalf of the Government, providing information from a letter sent by Permanent Secretary Philip Rutnam to Chair of Home Affairs Committee Yvette Cooper, showing that between 2012 and 2017, 867 people successfully claimed financial compensation (totally £21.2 million) as a result of being wrongfully detained. She also said that the Home Secretary is expected to report to Parliament in mid-July, the number of cases of immigration detention of Caribbean Commonwealth nationals now aged over 45 (i.e. born before 1 January 1973).
11 July 2018: HC 161205 (Detention Centres: Sexual Offences)
Angela Crawley (Labour) asked how many incidents of rape and sexual assault have been reported at immigration detention centres since 2015; and how many women reporting those incidences have subsequently been deported. Caroline Nokes replied, saying that "management information for the most recent period available shows that there were 25 allegations of sexual assault (which includes allegations of rape) made by detainees against staff at immigration removal centres between financial year 2014/15... and 2017/18". She explained how complaints made by detainees are handled but refused to provide information on the number of women who have been deported following an allegation of sexual abuse or rape while in detention, saying that this information "is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost".
11 July 2018: HC 161206 (Immigrants: Detainees)
Angela Crawley (Labour) asked the Home Secretary how many pregnant women have been held in immigration detention centres since 2015; and for how long each of them were held. Caroline Nokes replied saying that "Home Office management information for the period 12 July 2016 to 30 June 2018 indicates that from 12 July-31 December 2016, 27 pregnant women were detained in the immigration detention estate; in 2017, 53 and in 2018, 23 (to 30 June). Of these women, one was detained for 102 hours with Ministerial authorisation." She said that providing information from before July 2016 would incur "disproportionate cost."
11 July 2018: HC 161204 (Immigrants: Detainees)
Angela Crawley (Labour) asked how many people being held in immigration detention centres have been in those centres for over one year, two years and three or more years. Minister for Immigration Caroline Nokes provided this information from the government website. In the first quarter of 2018 there were 2,758 people in detention. Of this number, 71 people held for over a year, 5 people held for over 2 years and 1 person held for three years or more.
10 July 2018: HC 146115 (Immigrants: Detainees)
Yvette Cooper (Labour) asked how many people have received compensation from the Home Office as a result of their unlawful detention in an Immigration Removal Centre in each of the last five years. Caroline Nokes replied "the Home Office is unable to provide the information requested. The Home Office would have to manually check all compensation payments for the years requested. This would therefore exceed the disproportionate cost threshold."
10 July 2018: HC 161128 (Immigrants: Detainees)
Mary Creagh (Labour) asked how many children have been separated from their parents while under immigration detention in each year for which information is available. Caroline Nokes replied, saying that "providing the information requested would require a manual check of individual records which could only be done at disproportionate cost."
9 July 2018: HC 137931 (Immigrants: Detainees)
Barry Sheerman (Labour) asked the Home Secretary whether records are kept on the religion of people detained in immigration removal centres and if so, how many people detained in immigration removal centres have identified as Christian, Sikh, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu and atheist in each of the last five years. Caroline Nokes replied that while the Detention centre rules dictate that if detainees "wish to declare that they belong to a particular religion, that information must be recorded", due to "differing recording methods in place at each of the individual centres" the information requested on religion of detainees "could only be provided at disproportionate cost."
4 July 2018: HC 145576 (Detainees: Compensation)
Stephen Doughty (Labour) asked what the average compensation payment was to people wrongly detained by the Home Office. Caroline Nokes was not able to give stats for 2017/18 but gave the following information:
Mean Median
2016/2017 £22,957 £15,000
2015/2016 £24,170 £20,000
4 July 2018: HC 146257 (Detainees: Compensation)
Stephen Doughty (Labour) asked what the maximum compensation made to a person wrongly detained by the Home Office was in each of the last three years. Caroline Nokes replied that the highest recorded compensation payments for 'unlawful detention' were £125,000 in 2014/2015, £120,000 in 2015/2016 and £125,000 in 2016/2017.
2 July 2018: HC 138338 (Immigrants: Carribean)
Harriet Harman (Labour) asked what access to legal advice and representation was made available to Windrush generation detainees at the time of their detention and what steps were taken by the Home Office, removal centres and other organisations to inform the Windrush generation of their rights including their right to challenge detention and seek bail. Minister for Immigration Caroline Nokes replied...
