Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 26 April 2024 to Question 23168 on Asylum: Rwanda, what detention capacity the Home Office had on 24 April (a) 2023, (b) 2024, (c) 2021 and (d) 2020.

On 24 April 2020 the capacity of the immigration detention estate was c2300 immigration removal centre (IRC) beds (if all rooms and beds were in use). As a result of operational changes including the closure of Morton Hall IRC, detention capacity reduced to c1700 IRC beds on 24 April 2021, rising to c2158 IRC beds on 24 April 2023 and c2200 IRC beds on 24 April 2024, with more coming online in the coming months.

Immigration detention capacity figures are not static and are subject to operational demands.