Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what agreements the Government has with the Government of Iran relating to the transfer of prisoners; and what effect those agreements have had on the number of prisoners exchanged with that country.

The United Kingdom does not have prisoner transfer arrangements with these countries.

The absence of a prisoner transfer agreement does not prevent the removal of an individual from the UK, and for those Foreign National Offenders who have no right to remain here we will look to deport and remove through other mechanisms. Where possible the UK will seek to remove Foreign National Offenders held in custody through the Early Removal Scheme or seek their deportation at the completion of their prison sentence.

We are committed to increasing the number of Foreign National Offenders who are removed from our prisoners, whether they are removed through Prisoner Transfer Agreements or the Early Removal Scheme. In 2015/16 we removed the highest number of offenders since records began with a total of 5,810 Foreign National Offenders removed from prisons, immigration removal centres and the community.