Question
I thank the Minister for the fantastic progress made. What steps is the Department taking to ensure that foreign national offenders are held in prison until they are deported, not released back into our society where they can reoffend or abscond?
Answer
There are currently thousands of foreign criminals in our prisons, at vast expense to the taxpayer, and that cannot be right when we need every space in our prisons. Within our first two years, the Government have increased foreign national offender returns by 41% compared with the last two years of the previous Government. I am sure my hon. Friend is aware that capacity in the immigration removals estate is within the remit of the Home Office, and we continue to work closely with the Department to ensure we increase the number of foreign national offenders being removed and keep the public safe.
Verdict: RED (22/100)
The question asked what the department does to keep foreign national offenders in prison until they can be deported. The reply does not describe any mechanism for holding them in custody. It instead cites a 41% rise in removals, which is a concrete figure but concerns returns rather than detention, and it refers questions about immigration removal capacity to the Home Office. The reply is therefore only partly responsive and mostly hedged, and the person who asked would likely need to submit a follow-up to get the specific information they wanted.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| What is the department doing to ensure that foreign national offenders are held in prison until they are deported, rather than released back into the community. | Partially Addressed | Hedged | The item asks what the department does to keep foreign national offenders in prison until deportation, but the reply never describes a custodial mechanism for holding them. It instead cites a 41% rise in FNO returns (a concrete figure, but about removals rather than detention), refers capacity in the immigration removals estate to the Home Office, and gives a general commitment to work with that department. |