Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the psychological impact of detention on women released from immigration removal centres; and what support his Department provides to those women.

The health and welfare of detainees is of the utmost importance. All individuals have ready access in immigration removal centres to medical professionals and health care, including mental health services. Decisions to maintain detention are reviewed at regular intervals, and also whenever new information or evidence comes to light that may be relevant to the individual’s detention, especially in respect of their vulnerability and the prospects for removal.

Immigration removal centres holding women are required to make information readily available to them on organisations that provide gender specific support, and on organisations that support the needs of women detainees who have experienced violence or abuse. In cases where detainees are being released and there are ongoing health concerns, the removal centre healthcare provider will inform the relevant healthcare service in the community to ensure continuity of care, where possible, and records will be forwarded as appropriate on release.