Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the findings of Operation Soteria will be published.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Operation Soteria is a joint police-Crown Prosecution Service programme designed to drive improvements in the handling of rape cases. The policing elements are being funded by the Home Office to build a new national operating model for the investigation of rape.
The findings from the research in pathfinder police forces are shared with police and prosecutors nationally as soon as they are available, including through a National Rape and Sexual Offences Learning Network. The most recent national learning event took place on the 29 March and was attended by over approximately 180 individuals from across 39 police forces.
Findings from the research will be published in the Autumn, when the first phase of the programme is complete. In the interim, an update on progress will be provided in the next Rape Review Progress Update which will published shortly and be available on GOV.uk.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how long on average detainees have had to stay in prison after their sentence has been served whilst awaiting on an authority to detain notification (IS91) decision in each year since 2010.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government is committed to a fair and humane immigration policy that welcomes those here legally, but tackles abuse and protects the public.
We make every effort to ensure that a foreign national offender’s (FNO) removal by deportation coincides, as far as possible, with their release from prison on completion of sentence. Detention plays a crucial role in enabling the removal of FNOs and those who are here illegally.
Published Home Office policy, Detention General instructions (publishing.service.gov.uk), is clear that immigration detention must be used sparingly and for the shortest period necessary. Where the Home Office intends to detain a time-served FNO under immigration powers at the end of their custodial sentence, detention notices are served in advance of this date, subject to certain exceptions. A timely risk assessment is also carried, out in line with published guidance, which reviews the suitability of the FNOs transfer to the immigration removal estate.
Foreign national offenders held in detention have the option to apply to an independent immigration judge for bail at any point. Once a person is in detention, regular reviews are undertaken to ensure that their detention remains lawful, appropriate and proportionate. We do not detain people indefinitely.
The Home Office publishes data on people in immigration detention in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. The number of people in detention on the last day of each quarter are published in table Det_D02 of the Detention detailed datasets. The data include those detained under immigration powers in HM prisons from July 2017 and can be broken down by place of detention. The latest data relate to the number of people in detention at the end of September 2021.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much compensation has been paid out to detainees across the prison estate for having to wait for a Home Office decision on an authority to detain notification (IS91) once they have already served their sentence in each year since 2010.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government is committed to a fair and humane immigration policy that welcomes those here legally, but tackles abuse and protects the public.
We make every effort to ensure that a foreign national offender’s (FNO) removal by deportation coincides, as far as possible, with their release from prison on completion of sentence. Detention plays a crucial role in enabling the removal of FNOs and those who are here illegally.
Published Home Office policy, Detention General instructions (publishing.service.gov.uk), is clear that immigration detention must be used sparingly and for the shortest period necessary. Where the Home Office intends to detain a time-served FNO under immigration powers at the end of their custodial sentence, detention notices are served in advance of this date, subject to certain exceptions. A timely risk assessment is also carried, out in line with published guidance, which reviews the suitability of the FNOs transfer to the immigration removal estate.
Foreign national offenders held in detention have the option to apply to an independent immigration judge for bail at any point. Once a person is in detention, regular reviews are undertaken to ensure that their detention remains lawful, appropriate and proportionate. We do not detain people indefinitely.
The Home Office publishes data on people in immigration detention in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. The number of people in detention on the last day of each quarter are published in table Det_D02 of the Detention detailed datasets. The data include those detained under immigration powers in HM prisons from July 2017 and can be broken down by place of detention. The latest data relate to the number of people in detention at the end of September 2021.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many inmates across the prison estate have been detained at the end of their sentence awaiting a Home Office decision on an authority to detain notification (IS91) in each year since 2010.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government is committed to a fair and humane immigration policy that welcomes those here legally, but tackles abuse and protects the public.
We make every effort to ensure that a foreign national offender’s (FNO) removal by deportation coincides, as far as possible, with their release from prison on completion of sentence. Detention plays a crucial role in enabling the removal of FNOs and those who are here illegally.
Published Home Office policy, Detention General instructions (publishing.service.gov.uk), is clear that immigration detention must be used sparingly and for the shortest period necessary. Where the Home Office intends to detain a time-served FNO under immigration powers at the end of their custodial sentence, detention notices are served in advance of this date, subject to certain exceptions. A timely risk assessment is also carried, out in line with published guidance, which reviews the suitability of the FNOs transfer to the immigration removal estate.
Foreign national offenders held in detention have the option to apply to an independent immigration judge for bail at any point. Once a person is in detention, regular reviews are undertaken to ensure that their detention remains lawful, appropriate and proportionate. We do not detain people indefinitely.
The Home Office publishes data on people in immigration detention in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. The number of people in detention on the last day of each quarter are published in table Det_D02 of the Detention detailed datasets. The data include those detained under immigration powers in HM prisons from July 2017 and can be broken down by place of detention. The latest data relate to the number of people in detention at the end of September 2021.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which units in her Department are responsible for monitoring management performance at (a) Brook House, and (b) Tinsley House immigration removal centres; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Brook House and Tinsley House immigration removal centres (IRCs), located near Gatwick airport, are operated through private contract, with Home Office oversight. This oversight includes daily operational monitoring by Detention and Escorting Services (DES) Compliance teams and second line assurance carried out by DES Audit and Assurance team. Quarterly, high level oversight is carried out by senior Home Office officials and Commercial leads. Cumulatively, this oversight framework ensures the delivery of services and provisions in line with the supplier’s contract, statutory instruments, Home Office policies and published guidance.
In order to support the management of the arrival of migrants, we have temporarily accommodated people under the provisions of the Short-term Holding Facility (STHF) Rules 2018 in a small number of IRCs, including Tinsley House.
Additionally, the Home Office works closely with our providers and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the immigration removal estate, which includes making sure anyone who may have been exposed self-isolates. As part of these safeguards, operational regimes may be adapted to mitigate the spread of the virus. All residents continue to have access to necessary provisions during this time.