§ Mr. LetwinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) deportees and (b) asylum seekers are in prison; and how many were in prison in each of the past five years. [62346]
§ Beverley Hughes[holding answer 17 June 2002]: The latest available information on the number of persons detained in prison solely under Immigration Act powers relates to 30 March 2002 and is as follows:
- Immigration Act detainees as at 30 March 2002 Total detainees: 145
- Of whom asylum seekers: 100.
Statistics showing the number of persons detained in prison solely under Immigration Act powers over the last five years is not available.
The Government are committed to pursuing a strategy of detaining both immigration offenders and asylum seekers in dedicated removal centres. Prisons are used for a small number of detainees who cannot be managed within the immigration removal estate.
Information on Immigration Act detainees as at 29 June 2002 will be published on 30 August 2002 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigrationl.html.