§ Mr. DawsonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many families are detained under asylum and immigration legislation; and for how long each has been detained. [143801]
§ Beverley Hughes[holding answer 15 December 2003]: The latest available information shows that at the end of September 2003 1,575 people were detained solely under the Immigration Act, of whom 1,270 had sought asylum at some stage. Information on the number of these who were detained as part of a family group is unavailable.
However, IND internal management information indicates that on 8 December 38 children were in detention. This information also indicates that the average time for which children are detained in UK removal centres is about 10 days. This figure is skewed 316W somewhat due to some long-stay cases. In fact, the bulk of cases are dealt with in a short period. We are working hard to ensure that where children are detained this is for as short a time as possible and are implementing additional measures to ensure the welfare of detained families with children. These measures include requiring ministerial authority to detain any child for longer than 28 days and ensuring that there are no administrative delays which might extend their detention by giving oversight of all children in immigration detention to a senior Home Office official.