§ 43. Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State or the Home Department how many people are currently being held in prison without having been charged on suspicion of being illegal immigrants.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesOn 31st May 1978 80 people who were not also the subject of court proceedings were detained on the authority of an immigration officer, on his being satisfied that they had entered illegally. The Immigration Act 1971 gives authority for the detention of such people pending the giving of directions for their removal.
§ Miss Richardsonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a further statement about the longest periods spent in prison by people 245W detained under Immigration Act powers at the present time.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesSince I gave my previous answer to my hon. Friend's Question on 26th June—[Vol. 1110, c. 385]—an error has been found in the classification of a person originally held on remand for a criminal offence. It now appears that on 31st May there were three persons detained in Prison Department establishments under the Immigration Act 1971 for 11 months or more. The third had been detained under the Immigration Act for 363 days, nine days longer than the case cited in my original reply.