PQs - March 2018
Parliamentary Questions asked of Government and answered in March 2018:
26 March 2018: HC 133714 (Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre)
Caroline Lucas (Green Party) asked the Home Secretary, further to question 132345 answered on 20th of March (see below), what the timetable is for a decision to be made about her request to visit Yarls Wood IRC (made in November 2016). Caroline Nokes gave the same answer as before "I am still considering the Honourable Member’s request and will respond in due course."
23 March 2018: HC 133140 (Immigrants: Detainees)
Keith Vaz (Labour) asked about the number of people detained in immigration removal centres in 2017. This information is published by the Home Office every quarter and we reported on these statistics on our website.
23 March 2018: HC 133271 (Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre)
David Lammy (Labour) asked about the quality of mobile phone coverage at Yarl's Wood immigration detention centre. Caroline Nokes replied: "Flooding at the site of a mobile telephone mast close to Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre earlier this month has resulted in intermittent mobile telephone signals affecting three mobile phone network providers. Repairs are underway and normal mobile phone coverage is expected to resume shortly." She added that detainees continue to have access to landline phones and that Home Office policy grants detainees the right to have access to a mobile phone.
22 March 2018: HC 132767 (Asylum: Detainees)
David Lammy (Labour) asked whether the Home Office has sought legal advice or made an assessment of the legality of threats of expedited deportation and the compatibility of such threats with human rights and immigration law. Caroline Nokes replied "We do not consider that the letter issued to individuals in immigration detention who have refused foods or fluids contravenes human rights obligations or immigration law. The letter in question is part of guidance which was cleared by Home Office lawyers and published in October 2017." She added that such a response was "in the interests of health and wellbeing" and "the most appropriate way in which to respond."
21 March 2018: HC 133094 (Immigration: Children)
Sarah Jones (Labour) asked "whether the Government supports objective 13(g) of the UN's draft Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration to end the practice of child detention in the context of international migration." Caroline Nokes said that the routine detention of children for immigration purposes in the UK ended in 2010 and that children are only detained "in a limited number of exceptional circumstances, and for the shortest period necessary."
21 March 2018: HC133042 (Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre: Mobile Phones)
Tony Lloyd (Labour) asked the Home Secretary "what plans she has to restore normal mobile connectivity in Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre". Caroline Nokes replied: "Flooding at the site of a mobile telephone mast close to Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre earlier this month has resulted in intermittent mobile telephone signals affecting three mobile phone network providers. Repairs are underway and normal mobile phone coverage is expected to resume shortly." She added that detainees continue to have access to landline phones and that Home Office policy grants detainees the right to have access to a mobile phone.
21 March 2018: HC 132983 (Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre)
Yvette Cooper (Labour) asked the Home Secretary, further to question 131298 answered on 13th of March (see below), "of the 98 reports made by a medical practitioner under Rule 35 in Yarl's Wood during Q3 of 2017, how many caseworker reviews of the appropriateness of continued detention led to a detainee's release from detention." Caroline Nokes gave information from transparency data found on the Government website, showing that the total number of releases from all Immigration Removal Centres (IRC) because of Rule 35 during Q3 2017 was 102. "Management information indicates that of the 102 total releases in Q3 2017, 26 of these were from Yarl’s Wood IRC." Thus, 26.5% of Rule 35 reports made in Yarl's Wood resulted in a release in Q3 2017.
20 March 2018: HC 132345 (Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre)
Caroline Lucas (Green Party) asked the Home Secretary, if she will grant the application made in November 2016 by Caroline Lucas to visit Yarl’s Wood immigration detention centre. Caroline Nokes replied that all requests by MPs to visit immigration removal centres require the agreement of the Minister for Immigration who must consider security and safety considerations and the risk of disruption. She says that she will consider the request.
20 March 2018: HC 132302 (Immigrants: Detainees)
David Lammy (Labour) asked what access detainees in immigration detention centres have to mobile phones, the internet and social media. Caroline Nokes referred to the two Detention Service Orders, on access to mobile phones and on access to the internet. Mobile phones are provided by the centre or personal handsets allowed when it "has no recording facility and/or access to the internet". Caroline Nokes says that detention centres are contractually required to provide access to the internet but that there are "no plans to enable detainees to access social media."
19 March 2018: HC 132553 (Immigrants: Detainees)
Yvette Cooper (Labour) asked the Home Secretary, further to question 131303 answered on 12th of March (see below), how many of the 55 pregnant women detained in the immigration detention estate in 2017, were subsequently released back into the community and granted refugee or humanitarian protection status. Caroline Nokes replied "Home Office management information indicates that 53 pregnant women were detained in the immigration detention estate in 2017, of which 43 were granted temporary admission and released into the community. Of those pregnant women released, 3 sought refugee or humanitarian protection status following release and 2 applications were then granted."
15 March 2018: HC 131773 (Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre)
David Lammy (Labour) asked a follow up question to his previous question, during the debate on Yarl's Wood on March 6th, about whether the Home Office's threat to accelerate deportations was contrary to human rights. He asked why this question was not answered. Caroline Nokes replied, saying "We do not consider that the letter issued to individuals in immigration detention who have refused foods or fluids contravened human rights obligations." She added that if detainees were refusing food, expediting their deportation was "the most appropriate way in which to respond" and "in the interests of [their] health and safety".
13 March 2018: HC 131260 (Immigrants: Detainees)
David Lammy (Labour) asked the Home Secretary how many people who were detained in immigration detention centres have been released into the community in each of the last five years. Caroline Nokes gave this information from the Government website. This data is below, as well as a percentage of the total number of people leaving detention.
Numbers Leaving Detention Released into Community
2013 30,030 13,097 (44%)
2014 29,674 14,001 (47%)
2015 33,266 18,120 (54%)
2016 28,677 15,204 (53%)
2017 28,244 15,071 (53%)
Total 149,891 75,493 (50%)
13 March 2018: HC 131261 (Immigrants: Detainees)
David Lammy (Labour) asked how many people have been wrongfully detained in immigration detention centres in each of the last five years and for how long they were detained. Caroline Nokes said that this information could not be provided without a manual check of individual records. She also talked about the opportunities detainees have to be released on bail and the capacity to launch a legal complaint against their detention. "The fact that a court may subsequently rule that an individual has been unlawfully detained does not necessarily mean the original decision was taken in bad faith."
13 March 2018: HC 131262 (Immigrants: Detainees)
David Lammy (Labour) asked the Home Secretary how many claims of compensation for wrongful detention there were in the last five years, how many were successful and at what cost to the public purse, as paid by the Home Office. Caroline Nokes provided the information below from the Home Office finance system, noting that information for the timespan 2017/2018 has not yet been finalised.
Year £m
2016/2017 3.3
2015/2016 4.1
2014/2015 4.0
2013/2014 4.8
2012/2013 5.0
Total 21.2
13 March 2018: HC 131298 (Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre)
Yvette Cooper (Labour) asked how many reviews of a person's detention in Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre have been triggered by Rule 35 reports since 2015. Caroline Nokes explained why Rule 35 reports take place and that the consequence of a Rule 35 report is that the Home Office reviews the case. As such, the number of case reviews is equivalent to the number of Rule 35 reports. She provided statistical data from the Government website that showed there were 365 Rule 35 reports made in Yarl's Wood in 2017. The data also shows that in 2017, only 19% of Rule 35 reports resulted in a person being released from detention.
12 March 2018: HC 131293 (Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre)
Yvette Cooper (Labour) asked about the length of time people had been detained in Yarl's Wood IRC in 2017, about how many had been released from detention and how many removed from the country. Caroline Nokes provided this statistical information from the Government website. The data shows that in 2017, 4,724 people left Yarl's Wood IRC. Of this number, 1,067 people (23%) were removed from the country and 3,660 people (77%) were released into the community. While the Home Office publishes data on the length of detention for those leaving detention, there is not specific data for Yarl's Wood IRC.
12 March 2018: HC 131302 (Immigrants: Detainees)
Yvette Cooper (Labour) asked how many people were detained in immigration removal centres in 2017; and of those detained, how many were subsequently granted refugee or humanitarian protection status. Caroline Nokes said that "the number of people granted asylum or humanitarian protection after being detained is not currently published and would require a manual check of each record." She additionally provided statistical information on asylum claims and separately on the numbers of people entering detention from the Government website.
12 March 2018: HC 131303 (Immigrants: Detainees)
Yvette Cooper (Labour) asked how many pregnant women were detained in immigration removal centres in 2017. Caroline Nokes replied that "Home Office management information indicates that fewer than 55 pregnant women were detained in the immigration detention estate in 2017" She added that section 60 of the Immigration Act 2016 places a 72 hour limit on the detention of pregnant women for the purposes of removal.
12 March 2018: HC 131308 (Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre)
Stella Creasy (Labour) asked the Home Secretary how many of those detained in Yarl's Wood detention centre in the last 12 months had a criminal conviction or were awaiting trial for a criminal offence. Caroline Nokes said that providing that information "would require a manual check of individual records which could only be done at disproportionate cost". She provided alternative statistics: the total number of foreign nationals detained in Yarl’s Wood IRC; the total number of foreign national offenders transferred to immigration detention; and the total number of foreign nationals on remand in prison.
12 March 2018: HC 131413 (Asylum: Detainees)
David Lammy (Labour) asked the Home Secretary, "what representations she has received on threats of expedited deportation made to asylum seekers and refugees held in immigration detention centres." Caroline Nokes said that the Home Office regularly meets with a range of stakeholders in relation to asylum claims. She said that they have published guidance on asylum case progression in detention, that should be done as quickly as possible while allowing fair process.
9 March 2018: HL 6061 (Asylum: LGBT People)
Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat) asked about LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) asylum seekers in immigration detention, what the longest such a person has been held and information on lengths of detention. Baroness Williams of Trafford replied that information on the length of time that those who have claimed asylum on the basis of their sexual orientation, have spent in detention, is not currently published and could only be obtained by a manual check of each record. However she provided experimental data from the Government website on asylum claims made on that basis from 1 July 2015 to 31 March 2017. During this time there were 3,535 asylum claims based on sexual orientation (6% of total claims). 25% of these asylum claims were granted asylum and 35% of appeals on rejected asylum claims were allowed.
5 March 2018: HC 129980 (Welfare in Detention of Vulnerable Persons Review)
Shadow Minister for Immigration Afzal Khan (Labour, Manchester Gorton) asked about the Welfare in Detention of Vulnerable Persons Review; which bodies with an interest in immigration detention the Home Secretary plans to contact; what the timetable is for revising the guidance; and what assessment her Department has made of the recommendations or findings made by Stephen Shaw. Minister for Immigration Caroline Nokes replied but did not answer, saying that the Government is "engaging with a wide range of bodies" and that the Government is required by the Court to respond to the judgment within a reasonable timeframe.
5 March 2018: HL 5817 (Immigrants: Detainees)
Lord Beecham (Labour) asked the Government about the incident on the 14th of February where detainees were handcuffed by escort staff before they were permitted to disembark from a coach that had caught fire as it took them to a deportation flight. Baroness Williams of Trafford denied that this had occured saying that "All the detainees on board were safely evacuated from the vehicle before being placed in handcuffs" but said that an investigation is underway into the causes of the incident.
