Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of (1) women, and (2) men, currently held in immigration removal centres are classed as ‘foreign criminals’ according to section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007.

This Government puts the rights of the British public before those of criminals, and we are clear that foreign criminals should be deported from the UK wherever it is legal and practical to do so.

The Home Office publishes data on people in detention by gender, as at the last day of the quarter in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’, Immigration statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) published on the 25 February 2021, and is available from table Det_D02 of the Detention detailed datasets. Information on those held in immigration removal centres that are classed as ‘foreign criminals’ by gender, is not separately available in a reportable format.

We make every effort to ensure that a person’s removal by deportation coincides, as far as possible, with their release from prison on completion of sentence. Where an FNO refuses to cooperate with the removal or deportation process, they may be detained. Foreign national offenders held in detention have the option to apply to an independent immigration judge for bail at any point, irrespective of gender.

Since January 2019, we have returned 7,240 FNOs, and we make no apology for protecting the public.