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Home Office

Answer

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to curtail the use of prison accommodation for those detained solely under Immigration Act powers; and by what date he expects to cease to use prison accommodation. [93516] Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Government are committed, as resources become available, to the pursuit of a strategy of detaining those detained soley under Immigration Act 1971 powers in dedicated detention centres and holding centres, not prisons. Key to this strategy is the replacement of the Harmondsworth centre and the use of Her Majesty's Prison Rochester by two larger, purpose designed centres at Heathrow and Aldington. These facilities are expected to be available by the spring of 2002 and will offer an increase of some 250 beds. There are more immediate plans to provide a dedicated centre in the North of England for about 150 detainees within the next six to nine months. This will reduce the ad hoc use of prisons. In order that this can be delivered quickly, it is likely to be provided and managed by the Prison Service. It will however be a self contained, discrete unit solely for the use of Immigration Act detainees. This strategy will ensure a net gain of about 300-350 detention places by 2002 and will greatly reduce the use of prison accommodation. However the Government accept that there will always be a need to use prisons for a minority of detainees, due to their special requirements, and this practice will continue. The number of such detainees detained in prison accommodation by 2002 is expected to be minimal.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

93516; 336 c258W

Session

1998-99

Subjects

Detainees Migrants Prisons Refugees Detention centres

Legislation

Immigration Act 1971

Contains statistics

Yes