Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what is the breakdown of the 17,346 assisted returns made with assistance from the Home Office by type of assistance provided.

Note 12 of the Returns Detailed Datasets (Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK) sets out that 'Assisted returns' relate to returns where people liable to removal from the UK who wish to leave voluntarily make an application to the Voluntary Returns Service and who are accepted to receive a re-integration package as part of their departure, or those who are assisted in their return by having the flights arranged at Home Office expense.

Obtaining the specific information requested would involve collating and verifying information from multiple systems owned by multiple teams across the Home Office and, therefore, could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.