Written question asked by James Clappison (Conservative) on Monday, 10 March 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 13 March 2008. It was answered by Liam Byrne (Labour) on Monday, 28 April 2008 on behalf of the Home Office.

Prisoners: Foreigners

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many sentence-expired foreign prisoners are held in detention under immigration powers; and how many have been held in such detention in each year since 1997.

Answer: [holding answer 13 March 2008]: The Chief Executive of the UK Border Agency advised the Home Affairs Committee in her letter of 20 November that there were 1,500 foreign national prisoners that were detained under immigration powers. She will continue to update the Committee with the most robust and accurate information available as requested. She has also explained in her letters to the Committee that information prior to April 2006 is not available due to the quality of management information that is held. Copies of these letters are available in the Library of the House.

Secondary information