Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many individuals have been wrongfully detained in immigration detention centres for (a) 1 week, (b) 1 month, (c) 3 months, (d) 6 months and (e) 1 year or more in each of the last five years.

Providing the information requested would require a manual check of individual records which could only be done at disproportionate cost.

Detention and removal are essential aspects of effective immigration control. The cases of all individuals being considered for immigration detention are routed through the detention gatekeeper. The gatekeeper considers the suitability of the detention of each individual, in line with general detention policy and, when the individuals concerned are regarded as vulnerable, with the adults at risk in immigration detention policy.

Regular reviews of an individual’s detention are undertaken to ensure that it their detention remains lawful and appropriate. Individuals can apply to Immigration Judges at any time for release on bail, and individuals (other than foreign national offenders) are referred automatically for consideration of bail after four months in detention and thereafter at four monthly intervals. Home Office officials will work with any detainee at any time to end their detention if they decide to leave the UK voluntarily.

Individuals who believe they have been unlawfully detained can, in addition to the complaints procedure, launch legal proceedings (JR and private law claims). The fact that a court may subsequently rule that an individual has been unlawfully detained does not necessarily mean the original decision was taken in bad faith. In addition, a court's findings may only relate to only certain aspects of the detention.