First supplementary memorandum submitted
by the Home Office
PROGRESS IN THE DEPORTATION OF FOREIGN NATIONAL
PRISONERS
INTRODUCTION
1. You will recall that I wrote to you on
9 October setting out the latest position in respect of the efforts
made by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) in dealing
with the 1,013 foreign national prisoner cases released without
deportation consideration. In that letter I said I would provide
the Committee with further information on progress early next
year. Given the session you are having later this morning with
the Home Secretary, I thought it would be helpful to provide an
interim update now on progress in the areas as outlined below.
2. In sharing this information, I should
remind you again that all of the figures provided are a snapshot
of the most accurate and robust data available to us. They are
subject to further revision for all the same reasons I set out
to you in my letter of 29 June, and again on 9 October.
3. Subject to these important caveats, our
progress in dealing with these cases is as follows:
PROGRESS ON
DEALING WITH
THE 1,013 CASES
4. I am pleased to report that the original
failure to consider deportation has now been put right in all
of the 1,013 cases.
The breakdown of these cases is as follows:
— in 745 of these we have made decisions
to pursue deportation;
— in 216 we have made the decision
not to pursue deportation; and
— in the remaining 52 cases a decision
has been made not to proceed with deportation at present because
the individual is detained in prison on remand or still has some
time to run on their sentence.
DEPORTATION/REMOVALS
OF THE
1,013 CASES
5. Our records show that actual deportation
(or removal) has now occurred in a total of 129 cases of the 1,013. This
figure of 129 deported (or removed) compares with the figure of
86 recorded in my letter of 9 October, an increase of 50% in the
last two months.
PROGRESS IN
DEALING WITH
THE "MOST
SERIOUS" CASES
6. We have continued to prioritise dealing
with the most serious cases, comprising murder, manslaughter,
rape and child sex cases. In October, I told you that all but
five of the 43 cases in this category were under our control or
resolved and that we had strong evidence that two of these individuals
were no longer in this country, leaving three outstanding. I can
now tell the Committee that one of these three individuals has
been detained and another has been located, leaving just one case
outstanding in this category.
OVERALL PICTURE
ON THE
DEPORTATION AND
REMOVAL OF
FOREIGN NATIONAL
PRISONERS
7. In addition to the 1,013 cases, the Criminal
Casework Directorate of IND has ensured that due consideration
of deportation has taken place in all new cases of foreign national
prisoners before they are released. As a result, since April,
our records show that over 1,600 foreign national prisoners have
now been deported (or removed). This represents an increase of
around 50% as compared with the figures set out in my letter of
9 October. I can also say now that the deportation figures for
last week show a record number of deportations or removals of
foreign national prisoners at 88.
8. As we improve systems for dealing with
foreign national prisoners we are able to consider deportation
earlier in the process. As the Home Secretary said in his statement
in the House of Commons on 9 October, we hope that, by the Spring
of next year, we will be considering these cases routinely six
months before the end of their sentence. We are making steady
progress in that direction: deportation is now considered around
two months before release in many cases. As we make progress on
this, we will be able to complete the consideration and make arrangements
for deportation in appropriate cases without the need to detain
foreign national prisoners beyond their normal release date.
9. I hope that this interim report is helpful.
Arrangements are being made for a copy of this letter to go into
the Library of the House. I will provide the Committee with a
further update early in the New Year.
Lin Homer
Director General, Immigration and Nationality Directorate
12 December 2006
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