Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November to Question 86603, whether the £500 facilitation payment given to Hadush Kebatu was paid under the (a) Voluntary Returns Service or (b) Facilitated Return Scheme; and what was the qualifying criterion which was applied.

Mr Kebatu was issued a £500 discretionary payment to avoid the potential disruption of this return. Cancelling the return at the last stage would have triggered substantial costs. If the operation had been halted before departure, the minimum unavoidable escort and ticketing costs would have exceeded several thousands of pounds.

The Home Office applies small discretionary payments, where appropriate, to prevent the failure of returns. These payments facilitate returns by making them quicker and cheaper, helping to avoid delays and additional costs. Decisions on their use are operational in nature.