§ Sir Ivan LawrenceTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the outcome of the joint Home Office/Metropolitan police review of deportation procedures.
§ Mr. HowardFollowing the tragic death of Mrs. Joy Gardner, I put in hand a joint review, with the Metropolitan police, of procedures in cases where the force assists the immigration service in the removal of people from this country under immigration powers. A representative of the Association of Chief Police Officers has also been involved in the review.
Police involvement is required in only a small minority of removal cases. Wherever possible, the departure of people voluntarily or under the supervision of the immigration service is the preferred option. Compulsion is used only as a last resort.
213WThe review is now complete. I am placing a copy of its report in the Library. I have accepted its recommendations as a sensible basis for continued co-operation in this sensitive area.
As a result of the review, in cases involving the removal of someone from the United Kingdom, there will be systematic arrangements for consultation between the immigration service and the police before visits are made to private premises. These will include more informative requests for police assistance, to a standard format; joint planning meetings in potentially difficult cases; and an expectation that the need for a planning meeting will be addressed in every case.
The review addressed the use of special restraint equipment in cases where the person being removed behaves violently or disruptively. The conclusions were that handcuffs should be available where necessary in accordance with ordinary police practice; that the use of additional arm and leg restraints, under strictly controlled conditions, is justified in those cases where the detainee cannot be adequately restrained with handcuffs; but that the use of mouth restraints—which was suspended in August 1993—should not be resumed. I accept these conclusions.
The report of the review also contains recommendations for enhanced training of police officers who act as escorts in such cases.
The police have an important role in assisting the immigration service to remove people in breach of the immigration laws, especially where it proves necessary to arrest such people in the community for detention pending removal. The review found that there was also a proportion of cases where the violent or disorderly nature of the person being removed, or his criminal record, warranted a police escort, but that otherwise trained escorts from suitable private contractors could continue to be used.