Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign national offenders (a) are eligible for deportation under the Early Release Scheme and (b) have been deported.

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.

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. A precise estimate of the number in the eligible window is not possible as this number includes Irish nationals (who are not routinely considered for deportation), those who may be dual nationals and those that have the right to remain.

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.

Monthly removals under ERS going back to December 2022 can be found in the following two Home Office releases:

Returns from the UK between 1 December 2022 and 31 January 2026 - GOV.UK

Returns from the UK between 1 July 2024 and 31 July 2026 - GOV.UK

Within its first two years (July 2024 to June 2026), this Government has increased returns of FNOs by 41% compared to the last two years of the previous Government. Within the FNO returns (up to July 2026), there have been 3,141 early removal scheme returns, a 20% increase compared to the same period 12 months prior.