Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign national offenders have been returned to prison in each EU member state under the EU Compulsory Prisoner Transfer Directive.

We are committed to increasing the number of Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) removed from the United Kingdom. Since 2010, over 33,000 FNOs have been removed; with 5,810 removed from prisons, immigration removal centres and the community in 2015/16.

The Early Removal Scheme (ERS) is the principal method for removing foreign national offenders early from prison. In 2015/16, 2071 foreign national offenders were removed under this scheme. In addition, prisoners may be transferred to a prison in their own country. The principal compulsory prisoner transfer scheme is the EU Prisoner Transfer Framework Directive (Council Framework Decision 2008/909/JHA). All eligible prisoners are identified for transfer and referred to the Home Office for deportation action. Once a deportation order is obtained, a decision is made whether to remove the prisoner under ERS or to seek transfer of the prisoner.

The EU PTA came into force in December 2011, with Member States implementing the Agreement at various dates from then onwards, and 2 Member States have yet to do so. The table below shows the numbers of prisoners who have been transferred from England and Wales to prisons in other Member States of the European Union under the EU Prisoner Transfer Framework Decision as at 31 December 2016. To date no transfers have yet taken place under the EU Prisoner Transfer Agreement to Member States not shown in the table. However, some transfers will have taken place to some of these countries under other transfer arrangements.

Transfers from England and Wales to other Member States of the European Union under Council Framework Decision 2008/909/JHA