§ Mr. Ian StewartTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to amend the Immigration (Places of Detention) Direction 1996; and if he will make a statement. [93897]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe Immigration (Places of Detention) Direction 1996 has been amended and copies have been placed in the Library.
It was necessary to amend the Direction in order to:
enable detention, where facilities have been specially provided, at immigration offices which are not at ports of entry. This will allow our proposals for a new reporting centre at Becket House to be implemented in October of this year when it is expected to be ready for operation;delete the 'out of date' reference to Meadvale detention centre, which is no longer in operation; andamend reference to a 'place of safety' in a Northern Ireland context to take account of the observations of the Legislative Counsel in Northern Ireland.