§ Mr. Soleyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the cost per day of detaining a person under Immigration Act powers in (a) prison department establishments and (b) immigration service detention accommodation.
§ Mr. WaddingtonThe total cost per day of detaining a person under Immigration Act powers in Prison Department establishments is estimated at £34. The cost of immigration service detention centres is estimated at £115. Immigration detention centres are fairly small and for a variety of reasons they cannot reasonably be operated below certain minimum levels of staffing. We are therefore unable to achieve the same economies of scale as in Prison Department establishments.
§ Mr. Soleyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether he has decided in what form he will publish extended information on the number of persons detained under Immigration Act powers, as announced in the reply to the hon. Member for Hammersmith on 23 July 1985, Official Report, column 466;
(2) whether he has decided in what form he will publish extended information on the number of persons detained under Immigration Act powers.
§ Mr. WaddingtonInformation is held centrally on the number of passengers, by nationality, seeking entry at ports and detained overnight in approved detention accommodation and is available on request. No decision has been taken about regular publication pending resolution of difficulties which have been encountered in 149W extending this information to cover all those held in detention under Immigration Act powers, irrespective of the length of detention.
§ Mr. Soleyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to make a decision on whether Mr. Olorunfemi's children (HO Ref. No. 0108282/3(S)) will be permitted to join him in the United Kingdom; and how long this case has been outstanding.
§ Mr. WaddingtonI wrote to the hon. Member yesterday informing him of my decision on the case. The application form was originally submitted on 19 May 1985. Since then arrangements have had to be made to interview the eldest applicant in Lagos and Mr. and Mrs. Olorunfemi in the United Kingdom, and for documents provided by Mr. Olorunfemi at his interview to be verified in Lagos.
§ Mr. Jannerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passengers were refused leave to enter the United Kingdom as visitors in the last 12 months for which figures are available; how many of these were granted temporary admission pending hon. Members' representations; in how many cases the immigration officers' decision to refuse leave to enter was overturned by a Minister; and in how many cases the passenger made a voluntary departure prior to the Minister's decision.
§ Mr. WaddingtonInformation is not available in the form requested, but the following gives such relevant information as can be readily supplied. Between April 1985 and March 1986, the latest date for which such figures arc currently available, 20,374 passengers were removed from the United Kingdom after having been refused leave to enter; it is not possible to say how many of them were seeking entry as visitors. During the same period temporary admission was granted to passengers on 8,543 occasions following refusal of leave to enter and on 8,402 occasions pending further examination; it is not known how many of these were subject to hon. Members' representations. Also, refusal of leave to enter was withdrawn on 685 occasions although it is not known how many of these were as a result of a decision by a Minister. A total of 5,700 representations in port cases were received from hon. Members in 1985 and a further 1,850 in the first four months of 1986.
§ Mr. Sheermanasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to increase the numbers of bilingual staff at ports of entry.
§ Mr. WaddingtonThe immigration service arranges full-time language training courses for immigration officers for six months each year. The choice of languages depends on the priority needs of the major ports and the availability of suitable courses and tutors. Arrangements are currently being made for courses in two languages of the Indian subcontinent for around 20 officers next winter.
§ Mr. Sheermanasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he intends to take to investigate allegations of investigation harassment by immigration officers at ports of entry.
§ Mr. WaddingtonAll complaints against the way the immigration control operates, including any of harassment by immigration officers, are thoroughly investigated and action taken if necessary. Where complaints are justified supervisory action is always taken and disciplinary action may follow.
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§ Mr. Sheermanasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will investigate the reasons for the upward trend in the number of visitors to Britain refused entry in the first six months of 1986; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WaddingtonI shall reply later this week.
§ Mr. Sheermanasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to ensure that immigration officers adhere to departmental guidelines when dealing with visitors to the United Kingdom from Pakistan, India and the Caribbean.
§ Mr. WaddingtonImmigration officers are required to adhere to the immigration rules and to departmental instructions in respect of all arriving and departing passengers. I have no evidence to suggest that they are not doing so, but any failure to comply with these requirements which is brought to the notice of the Department will be thoroughly investigated and if the criticism is justified action will be taken.