HC Deb 27 November 1995 vol 267 cc466-7W
Mr. George Howarth

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if the use of HM prison Doncaster for immigration detainees is now a permanent arrangement; [479]

(2) who took the decision to hold immigration detainees in Doncaster prison; and on what date the decision was taken. [400]

Miss Widdecombe

Responsibility for these matters has been delegated to the temporary Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. George Howarth, dated 27 November 1995: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about the decision to hold immigration detainees in Doncaster prison and whether its use for that purpose is now a permanent arrangement. The decision to use a unit in Doncaster prison for holding immigration detainees was taken in June 1994 and formally announced on 13 June 1994. Because of population pressures and reservations subsequently expressed by the Immigration and Nationality Department of the Home Office as to its suitability for holding Immigration Act detainees, only limited use, on grounds of operational expediency, has been made of Doncaster for the holding of persons detained solely under the Immigration Act 1971. There are currently three such persons detained there. It has not been formally removed from the list of Prison Service establishments designated for the holding of such detainees but the Prison Service and the Immigration and Nationality Department are considering possible alternatives.

Mr. Howarth

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many detainees Doncaster prison holds at any one time; where the prison detainees are being held; what special facilities have been made available for the detainees; and what provisions there are in the contract signed in February 1994 between the Home Office and the contractor for this arrangement. [401]

Miss Widdecombe

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary Director General of the Prison Service who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. George Howarth, dated 27 November 1995: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about how many detainees Doncaster prison holds at any one time; where the prison detainees are being held; what special facilities have been made available for the detainees; and what provisions there are in the contract signed in February 1994 between the Home Office and the contractor for this arrangement. There is no agreed number of detainees held in Doncaster. There are currently three detainees, detained solely under the Immigration Act 1971, held at Doncaster. Two are in normal accommodation and one, who is a paraplegic, in the Health Care Centre. Detainees at Doncaster have access to the same facilities as other prisoners. There are no special facilities specifically for detainees. The contract between the Home Office and Premier Prison Services (PPS) requires PPS to hold up to 771 prisoners at Doncaster. A prisoner is defined as "any person for the time being detained in legal custody as a result of a requirement imposed by a court or otherwise that he be so detained". This includes detainees.