Written question asked by Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Baroness Scotland of Asthal (Labour) on Thursday, 2 November 2006.

Immigration: Removal Centres

Question: What is the average length of detention of asylum seekers subject to the fast track process at immigration removal centres; and how this compares with the figures before the process was introduced.

Answer: At Oakington the average time to initial decision from date of application for the first two quarters of this year was 12 days. Following completion of the Oakington process at this stage claimants may be further detained after they have been served with a decision in accordance with general detention criteria or released on temporary admission. The average length in detention in 2005-06—that is, from 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006—for asylum seekers subject to the fast track process at Harmondsworth who were removed from the UK in that period was 65 days. The equivalent figure for Yarl's Wood was 57.5 days. Since the Oakington, Harmondsworth and Yarl's Wood fast-track processes are end-to-end processes from the initial asylum interview through to removal, meaningful comparisons with the figures before the process was introduced cannot be made.

Secondary information