§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons(a) were deported and (b) voluntarily left the UK pending deportation in January. [68795]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienInformation on removals and voluntary departures resulting from deportation action is not yet available for January 1999.
Table 5.3 of the Home Office statistical bulletin "Control of Immigration: Statistics, United Kingdom, First Half 1998", a copy of which is in the Library, 91W contains information on the numbers of persons who were removed or departed voluntarily as a result of deportation action in 1995, 1996, 1997 and the first half of 1998.
§ Mr. ChopeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 2 February 1999,Official Report, columns 546–47, on deportation orders, in respect of how many deportation orders made in (a) 1994, (b) 1995 and (c) 1996 deportation was not enforced because it was no longer appropriate. [69918]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienSome 160 of the deportation orders made in 1994 have not been enforced on the ground that deportation is no longer appropriate. The figures for 1995 and 1996 are 170 and 140 respectively.
§ Mr. ChopeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 2 February 1999,Official Report, columns 546–47, on deportation orders, if he will make it his policy to collect easily accessible information on the number of persons in custody or otherwise detained who are the subject of deportation action; and if he will make a statement. [69919]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienInformation is currently collected on people who are detained under Immigration Act powers in prisons and detention centres. This will include people refused entry on arrival at a port and illegal entrants, as well as those who are subject to deportation action. However, those subject to deportation are not identified separately; and the figures do not include people still completing custodial sentences who are subject to deportation action, as the latter are not held under Immigration Act powers.
There is no pressing operational need to collect centrally separate information about the number of people in prison custody or otherwise detained who are subject to deportation action. However, the Immigration Service is currently in discussions with the Prison Service about the collection of data on foreign nationals in prison and will consider the desirability of including details of prisoners subject to deportation when new information systems are introduced.
§ Mr. ChopeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what circumstances it is the policy of the Government that people serving prison sentences and who are the subject of deportation action should be released from custody prior to deportation. [69845]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienA prisoner is expected to complete his sentence before being deported.
It is our practice to complete the necessary administrative action associated with deportation before the person concerned has completed his sentence so that deportation can take place on release from custody.
Where it is not possible to do this for legal reasons such as an outstanding appeal, or where the person is not immediately removable for other reasons, consideration is given to whether they should be detained under Immigration Act powers or whether they can be granted temporary release.
In deciding whether or not a particular individual should be detained, we apply the same criteria as are applied in other immigration cases. These criteria were set 92W out in Chapter 12 of the White Paper "Fairer, Faster and Firmer—A Modern Approach to Immigration and Asylum", which was published last year.
§ Mr. ChopeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if prison governors are informed of which prisoners in their charge are the subject of deportation action. [69846]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienGovernors should be aware of those prisoners who have been recommended for deportation by a court. In other cases, the police are required to notify the Immigration and Nationality Directorate where someone has been convicted of an offence of violence against the person, a drugs offence or an immigration offence or any other offence where a custodial sentence of 12 months or more has been imposed. Where it is decided to initiate deportation action in those cases, the Governor is asked to serve the notice informing the prisoner that the Secretary of State intends to deport him. The Governor will also be informed of cases where a deportation order has already been made—on other grounds—against someone who is serving a custodial sentence.