§ Mr. StinchcombeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Immigration Act 1988 detainees are held in prisons in England and Wales. [38102]
§ Angela EagleThe latest available information on the number of persons detained under Immigration Act 1988 powers relates to 29 December 2001. The number of detainees held in prisons in England and Wales is given in the table.
Immigration Act detainees as at 29 December 20011 Place of detention Number Dedicated Immigration Service wings2 330 Other prison establishments3 335 Total3 665 1 Figures rounded to the nearest five. 2 Persons detained at the dedicated Immigration Service wings at Haslar, Lindholme and Rochester 3 Includes 270 persons detained under dual immigration and other powers. The temporary use of spaces in a number of local prisons ended in mid-January 2002, as did the use of the accommodation at Her Majesty's Prison (HMP) Rochester. In addition, the dedicated detention facilities at HMP Haslar and HMP Lindholme were redesignated formally as immigration removal centres on 8 February 2002, thus requiring them to operate under Detention Centre Rules rather than Prison Rules. These changes will be reflected in the quarterly asylum statistics which will be published on 31 May 2002 on the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigrationl.html.