Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the response by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 4 July (HL Deb, cols 788–9) and her Written Answer on 31 July (HL668), regarding rates of pay for work undertaken by immigration removal centre detainees, whether any of the work undertaken by those detainees was duplicated by staff or employees of (1) the Home Office, or (2) the Immigration Removal Centre; if so, what were the rates paid to those detainees for that work; and what is their assessment of why no savings or efficiencies have been realised by the Home Office or private service providers.

It is not permitted contractually for private service providers to use the detainee paid work scheme to replace staffing obligations in immigration removal centres.

None of the work undertaken by detainees on a voluntary basis in this scheme is duplicated by staff or employees of either the Home Office or the private service provider and there are no savings or efficiencies realised by the Home Office or private service providers.