Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral statement by the Prime Minister on Illegal Migration of 13 December 2022, Official Report, column 887, when her Department plans to establish a new specialist unit for expediting cases involving Albanian nationals; and what recent estimate she has made of when her Department will meet its target of recruiting 400 new specialist staff to that unit.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
We have taken immediate action against the large numbers of Albanian nationals risking their lives and making dangerous and unnecessary journeys to the UK through illegal means.
Since the Prime Ministers announcement over 400 specialist staff have been processing and expediting asylum claims from Albanian nationals.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's data entitled Factsheet: Small boat crossings since July 2022, published 2 November 2022, how many of the Albanian nationals who crossed the English Channel in small boats from May to September 2022 have since returned to Albania.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office publishes data on returns by nationality in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on returns of Albanian nationals are published in table Ret_D01 of the ‘Returns detailed datasets’.
Please note this data relates to all returns, not just returns of individuals who arrived via small boat. Data on the method of arrival of people returned is not published.
Further information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks. The latest data relates to the end of September 2022.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of how many Albanian nationals in the UK are victims of (a) human trafficking and (b) modern slavery.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office publishes statistics of potential victims of modern slavery referred to the National Referral Mechanism. These are based on potential victims who are identified by a range of first responders and are not estimates. The 2022 statistics can be found here;
Further disaggregated data is published via the UK Data Service and can be accessed here: https://beta.ukdataservice.ac.uk/datacatalogue/studies/study?id=8910
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what is the most common visa used by Albanians residing in the UK.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office publishes data on Entry clearance visas in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on granted visas, by nationality, are published in table Vis_D02 of the ‘Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes detailed datasets’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to Q4 2022 (October to December).
To note, the number of visas granted does not necessarily reflect the number of foreign nationals either residing or arriving in the UK.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether any category of foreign national prisoners has access to (1) legal aid, or (2) any other public funding.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
As of 31 December 2022, there were 9,797 Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) held in prisons in England and Wales, with the top ten origin countries being Albania, Poland, Romania, Ireland (Republic of), Lithuania, Jamaica, Pakistan, Somalia, Portugal, and Iraq.
We do not disaggregate prison run costs by nationality and the cost to hold individuals depends on category. Our unit costs for holding prisoners are published on Gov.uk alongside the HM Prison and Probation Service Annual Reports and Accounts.
Under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS) and Tariff Expired Removal Scheme (TERS) FNOs are removed from the UK, they are not released from their sentence and are liable to continue their sentence should they return to the UK. ERS applies to those serving determinate sentences, and TERS to those serving indeterminate sentences (Life or Imprisonment for Public Protection, which stopped being used in 2012).
Between January 2010 and June 2022, the Home Office removed 22,707 FNOs through ERS with 1,322 of those in the year ending June 2022. Since its implementation in May 2012, 571 FNOs have been removed through TERS. The disparity in numbers under the two schemes is due to there being significantly fewer FNOs with indeterminate sentences than determinate, and the need for the tariff to be expired before they can be removed.
The below table shows the number of FNOs who escaped from custody over the last 5 years. A prisoner escapes when they pass beyond the perimeter of a secure prison or the control of escorting staff. All three from 2017-18 were recaptured within 30 days.
Year | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 |
Number of Foreign National Offenders escaped from custody | 3 | ..* | .. | .. | .. |
* Figures of 1 and 2 are supressed
A Foreign National Offender may access legal aid if they satisfy the relevant eligibility criteria: their legal issue is in scope, as set out in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, and they pass relevant means and merits tests. For immigration matters, all immigration detainees held in prison can access 30 minutes of legally aided legal advice. This provides a functional equivalent to the advice available to detainees held in immigration removal centres. Broader access to public funds would be based on the immigration status of an individual.
The Bill of Rights will strengthen the wider framework around appeals made on Article 8 grounds (the right to private and family life) by foreign criminals subject to deportation. Clause 8 of the Bill sets out how the courts should consider the compatibility of new deportation laws.
Clause 20 of the Bill of Rights establishes a threshold for successful appeals on Article 6 grounds. This new provision is intended to strengthen the existing approach in this area.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many foreign national prisoners have been released under the (1) Early Removal Scheme (ERS), and (2) Tariff-Expired Removal Scheme (TERS).
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
As of 31 December 2022, there were 9,797 Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) held in prisons in England and Wales, with the top ten origin countries being Albania, Poland, Romania, Ireland (Republic of), Lithuania, Jamaica, Pakistan, Somalia, Portugal, and Iraq.
We do not disaggregate prison run costs by nationality and the cost to hold individuals depends on category. Our unit costs for holding prisoners are published on Gov.uk alongside the HM Prison and Probation Service Annual Reports and Accounts.
Under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS) and Tariff Expired Removal Scheme (TERS) FNOs are removed from the UK, they are not released from their sentence and are liable to continue their sentence should they return to the UK. ERS applies to those serving determinate sentences, and TERS to those serving indeterminate sentences (Life or Imprisonment for Public Protection, which stopped being used in 2012).
Between January 2010 and June 2022, the Home Office removed 22,707 FNOs through ERS with 1,322 of those in the year ending June 2022. Since its implementation in May 2012, 571 FNOs have been removed through TERS. The disparity in numbers under the two schemes is due to there being significantly fewer FNOs with indeterminate sentences than determinate, and the need for the tariff to be expired before they can be removed.
The below table shows the number of FNOs who escaped from custody over the last 5 years. A prisoner escapes when they pass beyond the perimeter of a secure prison or the control of escorting staff. All three from 2017-18 were recaptured within 30 days.
Year | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 |
Number of Foreign National Offenders escaped from custody | 3 | ..* | .. | .. | .. |
* Figures of 1 and 2 are supressed
A Foreign National Offender may access legal aid if they satisfy the relevant eligibility criteria: their legal issue is in scope, as set out in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, and they pass relevant means and merits tests. For immigration matters, all immigration detainees held in prison can access 30 minutes of legally aided legal advice. This provides a functional equivalent to the advice available to detainees held in immigration removal centres. Broader access to public funds would be based on the immigration status of an individual.
The Bill of Rights will strengthen the wider framework around appeals made on Article 8 grounds (the right to private and family life) by foreign criminals subject to deportation. Clause 8 of the Bill sets out how the courts should consider the compatibility of new deportation laws.
Clause 20 of the Bill of Rights establishes a threshold for successful appeals on Article 6 grounds. This new provision is intended to strengthen the existing approach in this area.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many foreign national prisoners have escaped custody in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
As of 31 December 2022, there were 9,797 Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) held in prisons in England and Wales, with the top ten origin countries being Albania, Poland, Romania, Ireland (Republic of), Lithuania, Jamaica, Pakistan, Somalia, Portugal, and Iraq.
We do not disaggregate prison run costs by nationality and the cost to hold individuals depends on category. Our unit costs for holding prisoners are published on Gov.uk alongside the HM Prison and Probation Service Annual Reports and Accounts.
Under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS) and Tariff Expired Removal Scheme (TERS) FNOs are removed from the UK, they are not released from their sentence and are liable to continue their sentence should they return to the UK. ERS applies to those serving determinate sentences, and TERS to those serving indeterminate sentences (Life or Imprisonment for Public Protection, which stopped being used in 2012).
Between January 2010 and June 2022, the Home Office removed 22,707 FNOs through ERS with 1,322 of those in the year ending June 2022. Since its implementation in May 2012, 571 FNOs have been removed through TERS. The disparity in numbers under the two schemes is due to there being significantly fewer FNOs with indeterminate sentences than determinate, and the need for the tariff to be expired before they can be removed.
The below table shows the number of FNOs who escaped from custody over the last 5 years. A prisoner escapes when they pass beyond the perimeter of a secure prison or the control of escorting staff. All three from 2017-18 were recaptured within 30 days.
Year | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 |
Number of Foreign National Offenders escaped from custody | 3 | ..* | .. | .. | .. |
* Figures of 1 and 2 are supressed
A Foreign National Offender may access legal aid if they satisfy the relevant eligibility criteria: their legal issue is in scope, as set out in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, and they pass relevant means and merits tests. For immigration matters, all immigration detainees held in prison can access 30 minutes of legally aided legal advice. This provides a functional equivalent to the advice available to detainees held in immigration removal centres. Broader access to public funds would be based on the immigration status of an individual.
The Bill of Rights will strengthen the wider framework around appeals made on Article 8 grounds (the right to private and family life) by foreign criminals subject to deportation. Clause 8 of the Bill sets out how the courts should consider the compatibility of new deportation laws.
Clause 20 of the Bill of Rights establishes a threshold for successful appeals on Article 6 grounds. This new provision is intended to strengthen the existing approach in this area.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the cost of housing foreign national prisoners for each of the last five years.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
As of 31 December 2022, there were 9,797 Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) held in prisons in England and Wales, with the top ten origin countries being Albania, Poland, Romania, Ireland (Republic of), Lithuania, Jamaica, Pakistan, Somalia, Portugal, and Iraq.
We do not disaggregate prison run costs by nationality and the cost to hold individuals depends on category. Our unit costs for holding prisoners are published on Gov.uk alongside the HM Prison and Probation Service Annual Reports and Accounts.
Under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS) and Tariff Expired Removal Scheme (TERS) FNOs are removed from the UK, they are not released from their sentence and are liable to continue their sentence should they return to the UK. ERS applies to those serving determinate sentences, and TERS to those serving indeterminate sentences (Life or Imprisonment for Public Protection, which stopped being used in 2012).
Between January 2010 and June 2022, the Home Office removed 22,707 FNOs through ERS with 1,322 of those in the year ending June 2022. Since its implementation in May 2012, 571 FNOs have been removed through TERS. The disparity in numbers under the two schemes is due to there being significantly fewer FNOs with indeterminate sentences than determinate, and the need for the tariff to be expired before they can be removed.
The below table shows the number of FNOs who escaped from custody over the last 5 years. A prisoner escapes when they pass beyond the perimeter of a secure prison or the control of escorting staff. All three from 2017-18 were recaptured within 30 days.
Year | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 |
Number of Foreign National Offenders escaped from custody | 3 | ..* | .. | .. | .. |
* Figures of 1 and 2 are supressed
A Foreign National Offender may access legal aid if they satisfy the relevant eligibility criteria: their legal issue is in scope, as set out in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, and they pass relevant means and merits tests. For immigration matters, all immigration detainees held in prison can access 30 minutes of legally aided legal advice. This provides a functional equivalent to the advice available to detainees held in immigration removal centres. Broader access to public funds would be based on the immigration status of an individual.
The Bill of Rights will strengthen the wider framework around appeals made on Article 8 grounds (the right to private and family life) by foreign criminals subject to deportation. Clause 8 of the Bill sets out how the courts should consider the compatibility of new deportation laws.
Clause 20 of the Bill of Rights establishes a threshold for successful appeals on Article 6 grounds. This new provision is intended to strengthen the existing approach in this area.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many foreign nationals are currently held in prisons in England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
As of 31 December 2022, there were 9,797 Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) held in prisons in England and Wales, with the top ten origin countries being Albania, Poland, Romania, Ireland (Republic of), Lithuania, Jamaica, Pakistan, Somalia, Portugal, and Iraq.
We do not disaggregate prison run costs by nationality and the cost to hold individuals depends on category. Our unit costs for holding prisoners are published on Gov.uk alongside the HM Prison and Probation Service Annual Reports and Accounts.
Under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS) and Tariff Expired Removal Scheme (TERS) FNOs are removed from the UK, they are not released from their sentence and are liable to continue their sentence should they return to the UK. ERS applies to those serving determinate sentences, and TERS to those serving indeterminate sentences (Life or Imprisonment for Public Protection, which stopped being used in 2012).
Between January 2010 and June 2022, the Home Office removed 22,707 FNOs through ERS with 1,322 of those in the year ending June 2022. Since its implementation in May 2012, 571 FNOs have been removed through TERS. The disparity in numbers under the two schemes is due to there being significantly fewer FNOs with indeterminate sentences than determinate, and the need for the tariff to be expired before they can be removed.
The below table shows the number of FNOs who escaped from custody over the last 5 years. A prisoner escapes when they pass beyond the perimeter of a secure prison or the control of escorting staff. All three from 2017-18 were recaptured within 30 days.
Year | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 |
Number of Foreign National Offenders escaped from custody | 3 | ..* | .. | .. | .. |
* Figures of 1 and 2 are supressed
A Foreign National Offender may access legal aid if they satisfy the relevant eligibility criteria: their legal issue is in scope, as set out in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, and they pass relevant means and merits tests. For immigration matters, all immigration detainees held in prison can access 30 minutes of legally aided legal advice. This provides a functional equivalent to the advice available to detainees held in immigration removal centres. Broader access to public funds would be based on the immigration status of an individual.
The Bill of Rights will strengthen the wider framework around appeals made on Article 8 grounds (the right to private and family life) by foreign criminals subject to deportation. Clause 8 of the Bill sets out how the courts should consider the compatibility of new deportation laws.
Clause 20 of the Bill of Rights establishes a threshold for successful appeals on Article 6 grounds. This new provision is intended to strengthen the existing approach in this area.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the top 10 countries from which foreign national prisoners originate.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
As of 31 December 2022, there were 9,797 Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) held in prisons in England and Wales, with the top ten origin countries being Albania, Poland, Romania, Ireland (Republic of), Lithuania, Jamaica, Pakistan, Somalia, Portugal, and Iraq.
We do not disaggregate prison run costs by nationality and the cost to hold individuals depends on category. Our unit costs for holding prisoners are published on Gov.uk alongside the HM Prison and Probation Service Annual Reports and Accounts.
Under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS) and Tariff Expired Removal Scheme (TERS) FNOs are removed from the UK, they are not released from their sentence and are liable to continue their sentence should they return to the UK. ERS applies to those serving determinate sentences, and TERS to those serving indeterminate sentences (Life or Imprisonment for Public Protection, which stopped being used in 2012).
Between January 2010 and June 2022, the Home Office removed 22,707 FNOs through ERS with 1,322 of those in the year ending June 2022. Since its implementation in May 2012, 571 FNOs have been removed through TERS. The disparity in numbers under the two schemes is due to there being significantly fewer FNOs with indeterminate sentences than determinate, and the need for the tariff to be expired before they can be removed.
The below table shows the number of FNOs who escaped from custody over the last 5 years. A prisoner escapes when they pass beyond the perimeter of a secure prison or the control of escorting staff. All three from 2017-18 were recaptured within 30 days.
Year | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 |
Number of Foreign National Offenders escaped from custody | 3 | ..* | .. | .. | .. |
* Figures of 1 and 2 are supressed
A Foreign National Offender may access legal aid if they satisfy the relevant eligibility criteria: their legal issue is in scope, as set out in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, and they pass relevant means and merits tests. For immigration matters, all immigration detainees held in prison can access 30 minutes of legally aided legal advice. This provides a functional equivalent to the advice available to detainees held in immigration removal centres. Broader access to public funds would be based on the immigration status of an individual.
The Bill of Rights will strengthen the wider framework around appeals made on Article 8 grounds (the right to private and family life) by foreign criminals subject to deportation. Clause 8 of the Bill sets out how the courts should consider the compatibility of new deportation laws.
Clause 20 of the Bill of Rights establishes a threshold for successful appeals on Article 6 grounds. This new provision is intended to strengthen the existing approach in this area.