Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign national offenders are currently eligible for removal under the Early Removal Scheme.

Eligible Foreign National Offenders are capable of being removed under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS) once they have served at least 30% of the custodial period of their sentence and are within four years of their earliest release point.

Early next year we will implement the Sentencing Act power to allow the removal of determinate sentence FNOs immediately after sentence. This will not include those in prison for the most serious crimes such as life sentences, rape, or unlawful killing who will still be required to serve time in prison before they are deported.

As of 30 June 2026, there were c.4,800 Foreign National Offenders (FNO) in custody sentenced to standard determinate or extended determinate sentences who could become eligible for removal under ERS during their sentence.