4 Foreign national offenders
33. We have repeatedly asked the Home Office what
they are doing to identify foreign national offenders (FNOs),
arrange for them to be deported as soon as possible, and, in the
event of the offender not being able to be deported on release
from prison, that the Home Office keep track of them until they
can be deported. The recent National Audit Office report on Managing
and removing foreign national offenders said both the number
of FNOs in UK prisons, and the number of FNOs deported, have not
altered appreciably since 2006:
Over that period [since 2006], the number of
foreign nationals in prison in the UK increased slightly (by 4%)
from 10,231 to 10,649, despite a tenfold increase in the number
of the Department's staff working on FNO casework. After an initial
surge in the number removed from 2,856 in 2006-07 to 5,613 in
2008-09 […], removal numbers have declined to 5,097 in 2013-14.[41]
34. With regard to identifying and preventing FNOs
entering the country, the NAO found that the Government had done
"relatively little" before December 2012, and that early
identification of FNOs, and prevention measures, could have saved
£70 million each year.[42]
35. The number of removals had increased from 4,722
in 2012-13 to 5,097 in 2013-14, and the time taken to deport FNOs
has also reduced from 369 days on average in 2012-13 to 319 days
in 2013-14. However, this could have been much better. The NAO
estimated that about a third of the 1,453 failed removals in 2013-14
might have been avoided through better co-ordination between organisations
and fewer administrative errors.
36. In response to the NAO's findings on removals,
Mandie Campbell, Director General, Immigration Enforcement, said
that removals had been made more difficult in the recent past
because of a 28% increase in FNOs submitting appeals against removal.[43]
To address this, she said the Immigration Act 2014 would reduce
the scope for foreign national offenders to appeal their removal.[44]
Furthermore, the Government has been trying to improve prisoner
transfer agreements with other countries, including EU countries
and 45% of those removed last year were EU citizens.[45]
Three of the top four nationalities detained in prisons in England
and Wales were nationals of Poland, Ireland or Romania.[46]
37. FNOs who are no longer in prison custody or immigration
detention may remain liable to deportation from the UK. The Home
Office has a team managing these FNOs until they are either granted
permission to stay in the UK or leave the country. Over twothirds
of these FNOs living in the community were released from prison
more than 2 years ago.[47]
Some of the FNOs living in the community do abscond. In July 2009,
an absconder tracing team was set up and has had 1,280 cases referred
to it.[48] Of these 1,280
cases, 425 have been traced. The absconder tracing team has also
located 654 individuals who absconded before 2009.[49]
Over 46% of the traced absconders have been removed, 19% granted
a right to remain, 30% are still being case worked, and 5% have
absconded again.[50]
38. There are a number of FNOs released without consideration
for deportation. The NAO report noted that the Home Office did
not know the number of FNOs released without consideration between
July 2006 and January 2009. There are incomplete records. The
Home Office initially told the NAO that number of FNOs released
from prison without consideration for deportation since 2006 was
263.[51] The NAO said
that figure did not tally with the figure given to this Committee,
which would be either 118 or 123 depending on definitions and
possible duplications. Home Office checking of the data revealed
that figure should be 151.[52]
39. In successive reports, the Committee has highlighted
the failure of successive Governments to deal with problem of
FNOs. The public simply cannot understand why people convicted
of a criminal offence in our country who are of different nationality
are either still in the UK in prison and have not been sent back
to their home country, or are at large in the community.
40. We know that the Prime Minister and the Home
Secretary have, in the past, expressed exasperation over this
situation, however, unlike this Committee, they can take action
to do something about it.
41. The Home Office needs to implement, in full,
the recommendations of the NAO, in particular to inform each department
or agency as to what it is delivering on the cross party Action
Plan on Foreign National Offenders.
42. The continued poor record keeping is inexcusable.
The NAO report highlighted the importance of transparency to Parliament,
and the need for the department to report its progress on FNOs
accurately and fully. We agree. The Home Office must be able to
provide accurate data to this Committee. Failure to do so will
leave Ministers and officials open to accusation that they have
been either deliberately or inadvertently misleading Parliament,
a serious charge that previously led to the resignation of a Home
Secretary on this very issue.
43. In previous reports, we have recommended that
information on nationality is provided at sentencing and that
passports are seized at that stage, and only returned once the
foreign national offender is ready to leave the country. Greater
cooperation and communication is needed between the courts and
prison service and the Home Office in order to achieve this. We
recommend that the Lord Chancellor and the Home Secretary meet
on a monthly basis to review progress, specifically on the matter
of FNOs.
44. There is no point in Parliament passing laws
if they are not enforced and at present we do not consider that
Immigration Enforcement is doing its work effectively enough.
41 NAO, Managing and removing foreign national offenders,
HC 441, 2014-15 Back
42
NAO, Managing and removing foreign national offenders, HC 441,
2014-15, paras 2.7-2.10 Back
43
Q 162 Back
44
Q 162 Back
45
Q 165. See also Q 44, Liaison Committee, Oral evidence: Evidence from the Prime Minister, Tuesday 13 May 2014 Back
46
NAO, Managing and removing foreign national offenders, HC 441,
2014-15, Figure 1 Back
47
NAO, Managing and removing foreign national offenders, HC 441,
para 3.24 Back
48
Letter from Mandie Campbell, 26 November 2014, see also Q 155 Back
49
Q 155. This figure includes some individuals who have absconded
more than once, so the number of referrals to the tracing team
is 1,280, the number of referrals closed is 1,148, and the number
of individuals traced is 1,079. Back
50
Letter from Mandie Campbell, 26 November 2014 Back
51
Q 148 Back
52
Q 149 Back
|
