Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason pregnant women detained under the Illegal Migration Bill will not be subject to the 72 hour detention limit introduced in 2016; and what steps she has taken to assess the potential impact of the Illegal Migration Bill on pregnant women.

It is important that we do not inadvertently create perverse incentives for evil people smuggling gangs to target particularly venerable groups. Therefore, pregnant women who come to the UK illegally and fall within the duty to remove will not be exempt from detention and removal under this Bill.

The Home Office takes the welfare of those in detention seriously. We will only detain pregnant women when it is necessary and in appropriate accommodation with appropriate healthcare provisions.

An equality impact assessment has been completed for the Illegal Migration Bill, and is available here: Illegal Migration Bill publications - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament.

The Home Office are not aware that any women who have been pregnant whilst in immigration detention have died during their perinatal period.