Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of offenders from Ghana have been transferred to prisons in Ghana from the UK in each year of the last five years.

This Government is absolutely committed to removing those who have no right to remain in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom and Ghana are signatories to a bilateral prisoner transfer agreement which provides for the voluntary transfer of prisoners only. No prisoners have transferred to Ghana under this arrangement to date.

On the 12 November 2015, the UK and Ghana signed a further prisoner transfer agreement which provides for transfer on a compulsory basis. This agreement is subject to ratification and has not yet entered into force.

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