§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
Following publication of the Harmondsworth report (An Inspection of Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre 16–18 September 2002), whether they have plans to review the detention of children in removal centres for longer than seven days. [HL5521]
§ Baroness Scotland of AsthalThe detention of families with children is very regrettable but it is sometimes necessary as part of maintaining an effective immigration control and in removing from the United Kingdom those who have no lawful basis to stay. It does not happen in the vast majority of cases and, where it does prove necessary, it is kept to the minimum period possible, often for only a few hours or days prior to removal. It would not, however, be appropriate to set an arbitrary time limit on such detention. To do so would take no account of the circumstances of individual families and would serve only to encourage those concerned to frustrate immigration and asylum processes in the hope of reaching a point where they would be released.