HC Deb 02 March 1995 vol 255 cc655-6W
Mr. Bernie Grant

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the rules governing the running of Her Majesty's prisons are applicable to the running of the Campsfield and Harmondsworth detention centres.

Mr. Nicholas Baker

The immigration detention centres at Campsfield house and Harmondsworth are not Prison Service establishments and are therefore not subject to Prison Service rules.

Mr. Bernie Grant

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library the manual which governs the administration of Campsfield and Harmondsworth detention centres.

Mr. Nicholas Baker

Operating instructions for the management of immigration detention facilities, including Campsfield house and Harmondsworth, contain information which is sensitive from both commercial and security points of view. It would not therefore be proper to disclose their contents.

Mr. Bernie Grant

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the lower age limit for the detention of asylum seekers at Campsfield and Harmondsworth;

(2) how many children below the age of 18 years have been detained at Campsfield and Harmondsworth within the last five years; and from which countries they came to seek asylum in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Nicholas Baker

There is no lower age limit for detention at Campsfield or Harmondsworth. However, in practice unaccompanied young persons under the age of 18 are detained only in the most exceptional circumstances. Temporary admission is normally granted into the care of a suitable sponsor—usually a relative or close family friend—or the social services department.

Since November 1993, when Campsfield house opened, nine people who were, or claimed to have been, under 18 have been detained there. Of these, five have been confirmed as asylum seekers. Their nationalities were Turkish, Ghanaian, Angolan, Chinese and Cote d'Ivoirean.

The information requested is not available in relation to Harmondsworth and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Bernie Grant

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library a copy of Judge Tumim's recent report on Campsfield detention centre.

Mr. Nicholas Baker

The report by HM chief inspector of prisons, following his inspection of the detention facilities at Campsfield house, has not yet been finalised. Consideration to placing the report in the Library of the House will be given in due course.