Written question asked by James Clappison (Conservative) on Wednesday, 16 January 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 21 January 2008. It was answered by Liam Byrne (Labour) on Wednesday, 23 April 2008 on behalf of the Home Office.

Prisoners: Databases

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the number of people detained in prison who are not recorded on the detentions database; and what information is held by his Department on non-UK nationals released from prison without notification to the Home Office, as referred to by the National Audit Office report on asylum and migration (HC(2003-04)625) of 25 May 2004.

Answer: I have been asked to reply.The section of the National Audit Office report on Asylum and Migration statistics published on 25 May 2004 to which is referred relates to the accuracy of statistics held by IND (now known as the UK Border Agency) governing the number of individuals held in detention for immigration reasons.Since the report was published, the DELMIS system, to which it referred, has been superseded by a different system known as the case information database (CID). This is designed for use within all areas of the Agency as opposed to just the detention service directorate. It is through CID that the Agency is able to ensure that it keeps accurate records on all individuals' immigration cases as well as ensuring that caseworkers are aware of where an individual resided or whether they were detained.The chief executive of the UK Border Agency has written to the Home Affairs Committee on several occasions over the past 18 months and explained that we have reviewed and strengthened our processes in identifying those foreign nationals serving custodial sentences and should be considered for deportation following the events of April 2006.

Secondary information