Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to end (a) indefinite detention and (b) the employment of detainees to work for £1 per hour at immigration detention centres.

It is not possible to detain people indefinitely under Immigration Act powers. To be lawful, detention must last no longer than is reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was authorised, must not be unduly prolonged and, in relation to removal, there must be a realistic prospect of the individual’s removal within a reasonable period of time.

As recommended by Stephen Shaw in his independent review of detainee welfare published in January 2016, the pay rates for detainees have been reconsidered, and have been maintained at current levels.