§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the terms of the agreements between the Immigration and Nationality Department and the Prison Services in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively under which the Prison Services make accommodation available within their estate for Immigration Act detainees; and what is the current number of places being provided in prisons in each jurisdiction for this purpose. [HL4447]
§ Lord Bassam of BrightonIn 1994 Ministers agreed that the Prison Service would provide approximately 500 places for immigration detainees to be held in prisons. No formal contract or service level agreement was made at the time.
In 2000, in pursuit of the Government's long-term strategy to rationalise and reduce the use of prisons for Immigration Act detainees, the Prison Service and the Immigration and Nationality Department agreed a package to provide immigration detention places separate from convicted prisoners; closer to meeting geographical needs and, in a small number of locations, better to meet the needs of immigration detainees. This included the closure of HMP Aldington and the transfer of the site for development as an Immigration Detention Centre in Spring 2002, and the opening in July 2000 of Lindholme Detainee Centre run by the Prison Service under a four-year service level agreement.
The current number of places being provided by the Prison Service in England and Wales is 112 in Lindholme, 198 in Rochester and 150 in Haslar, and a small number of places in mainstream prisons which varies from day to day between 70 and 100. In Scotland, 60 places are available at HMP Greenock and in Northern Ireland a small number of places, rarely in excess of seven, at HMPs Magilligan and Maghaberry.
The Prison Service will soon be making a further 500 places available to the Immigration Service for a period of about one year to support the programme of removals from the United Kingdom, until the new Immigration Service detention centres come on stream during 2001. The location of these further Prison Service places has yet to be determined.