HC Deb 02 February 1998 vol 305 cc518-9W
Mr. Cox

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the prisons in England and Wales where(a) men and (b) women are being held under the Immigration Act 1988 powers. [26002]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

The available information on persons detained in prison establishments in England and Wales under immigration powers as at 31 December 1997, by gender, is given in the table.

Table 1. Persons recorded as being detained in prisons in England

and Wales1 solely under Immigration Act powers, by gender, as at

31 December 19972
Prison establishment Total detainees
Male detainees
Belmarsh 9
Birmingham 3
Blakenhurst 5
Bristol 7
Brixton 9
Bullingdon 5
Chelmsford 3
Doncaster 3
Elmley 3
Haslar 124
High Down 19
Holme House 2
Leeds 9
Manchester 2
Norwich 4
Pentonville 3
Reading 2
Rochester 188
Wandsworth 8
Wormwood Scrubs 16
Other 7
Total—Male Detainees 431
Female detainees
Holloway 16
Total—Female Detainees 16
1 Figures exclude persons detained in immigration detention centres and police cells.
2 Data are provisional.

Mr. Singh

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many posts were abolished in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in the 1996–97 financial year; and how many job losses are planned for the 1997–98 financial year. [26516]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

Over the financial year 1996–97, the total number of posts increased by ten. Current projections for 1997–98 indicate a decrease of around 150 posts.

Mr. Dismore

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will decide on the review of the refusal to grant Mr. Farrakhan permission to visit the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [26261]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

We are carefully considering the representations we have received from a wide range of groups and individual members of the public. A decision on whether Mr. Farrakhan should continue to be excluded from the United Kingdom will be taken once that consideration has been completed.