§ Mr. ViggersTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department why the road signs directing the public to Haslar Detention Centre have been replaced by signs reading Immigration Removal Centre Haslar; and whether these changes reflect a change of purpose for the establishment. [60398]
§ Beverley HughesWe announced our intention to redesignate existing detention centres as "Removal Centres" in the recent White Paper, Secure Borders, Safe Haven: Integration with diversity in modern Britain. There is provision in the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill currently before Parliament to amend references to detention centres in the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 and elsewhere so as to formally reflect their change of name to removal centres.
This change will reinforce the key part these centres play in the removal of failed asylum seekers and others. There are no substantive changes to the provisions relating to the purpose and operation of these centres.