§ Mr. Peter BottomleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if convicted foreign nationals may be held in open prison. [16108]
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. Peter Bottomley, dated 20 February 1997:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about whether convicted foreign nationals may be held in open prisons.Foreign nationals serving a sentence of imprisonment may not be held in open conditions if they are subject to removal from the United Kingdom at the end of the sentence under provisions of the Immigration Act 1971. This may be by reason of a court recommendation for deportation, a notice of intention to deport, a deportation order, a notice of illegal entry or a notice of refusal of leave to enter.