Immigration Bail

(asked on 23rd January 2018) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of people who are released from immigration detention on immigration bail as a result of the repeal of section 4(1) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.


Answered by
Caroline Nokes Portrait
Caroline Nokes
This question was answered on 29th January 2018

Section 4(1) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 was repealed on 15 January on the coming into effect of new immigration bail provisions in Schedule 10 to the Immigration Act 2016, including new powers to provide accommodation in certain circumstances. The repeal of section 4(1) is not expected to have any discernible effect on the number of people released from immigration detention on immigration bail

There has been communication with the First-tier Tribunal about the implications of Schedule 10 to the 2016 Act, including the repeal of section 4(1) of the 1999 Act and provision of bail accommodation. Regular discussions have also taken place with Ministry of Justice officials from both HM Courts and Tribunals Service and HM Prisons and Probation Service. No discussions on this subject have taken place with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government or Ministers in the devolved administrations.
Section 4(1) of the 1999 Act was used to provide accommodation to people released from immigration detention on bail and in limited circumstances to other categories of migrants who required support in order to avoid a breach of their rights under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights

Paragraph 9 of Schedule 10 to the 2016 Act replaces this with powers to provide accommodation to people released from detention on bail and to those who require it in order to avoid a breach of their Article 3 rights

Additionally, individuals granted immigration bail who are asylum seekers or failed asylum seekers still have access to support provided under sections 95 or 4(2) of the 1999 Act if they would otherwise be destitute and meet the normal eligibility criteria. Any migrant who is not entitled to support and who could leave the UK in order to avoid homelessness should do so.

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