§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will consider a change in the law so as to allow the service of a notice of intention to deport on a person serving a sentence of imprisonment several weeks prior to the end of his sentence and to provide that no challenge could then be made to the Secretary of State on the grounds that he could not have considered all the circumstances, so that minimum delays occur between the end of the sentence and the hearing of any appeal against deportation, as was originally proposed in 1979. [HL3516]
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Williams of Mostyn)The Immigration Rules stipulate that before a decision to deport is reached, full account will be taken of all relevant factors. We have no plans to change this requirement. There is a right of appeal, exercisable before removal, against a decision to deport.
It is our normal practice to take a decision on whether or not to initiate deportation action against someone serving a custodial sentence as soon as practicable, with a view to completing all the administrative action in connection with the decision, including any appeal hearing, prior to the completion of the sentence. Where this can be achieved, removal can be effected at once. Unfortunately, this is not always possible. Sometimes the sentence imposed is too short to allow the administrative action to be completed (particularly where time spent on remand is taken into account or the sentence is reduced on appeal); sometimes the deportee will submit an application for asylum or notify us of a change in his circumstances at a late stage; and occasionally there may be difficulties in obtaining a travel document for the person concerned.
The Government do not consider that changing the law to provide that no challenge be made to the Secretary of State's decision to deport would significantly reduce these delays.