Home Office immigration detainees at MPS detention facilities

Report: 11
Date: 31 March 2005
By: Commissioner

Summary

The report updates members on issues relating to the use of Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) detention facilities by Home Office immigration detainees.

A. Recommendation

That members note the current position in relation to the use of MPS detention facilities by Home Office immigration detainees.

B. Supporting information

Background

1. A joint Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the MPS and the Immigration Service (IS) on "MPS Support to Immigration Service Operations for the Removal of Immigration Offenders" was created in 2002 and a revised version was signed off by both agencies on 24 November 2003. This MOU exists alongside a National Joint Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) protocol on the removal of immigration offenders, and reflects both the particular needs of London and the organisational learning and practices of the MPS in relation to critical incident management.

2. The MOU sets out the detention powers given to IS officers under Part VII Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. This provides that authorised IS officers no longer need to be accompanied by police officers to detain suspected illegal immigrants when the risk to safety is assessed as low. Since then, over 600 IS officers have been arrest trained, in line with the aim of the IS to increase its in-house arrest capability and reduce its reliance on police support to its operations.

3. Where the IS officer is satisfied with the identity and circumstances of the person arrested, they should take them directly to a Home Office approved detention centre. However, authorised IS arrest officers must take a person suspected of being illegally in the UK where there is doubt as to their identity or conditions of stay to a Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) authorised detention facility. This is to provide the detainee, during investigation, with the protection given by the Act in such matters as access to a solicitor and regular reviews of detention. Police officers who detain suspects believed to be illegally in the UK take them to police stations.

4. At the police station, investigation into non-immigration criminal allegations is prioritised, and the suspect does not become an immigration detainee until after the conclusion of the criminal investigation, when IS papers are served on him or her. Schedule 2 of the 1971 Immigration Act, which determines the maximum detention time permissible, does not apply until the criminal investigation ceases. It provides, once papers have been served, for detention for a five-day period and up to seven days where deportation arrangements have been made.

5. The following guidelines are provided to IS officers regarding detention at a police facility: "Detainees should preferably only spend one night in police cells, with a normal maximum of two nights. In exceptional cases, a detainee may spend up to 5 nights continuously in police cells (7 nights if removal directions have been set) if, for instance he is awaiting transfer to more suitable IS or Prison Service accommodation and the police are content to maintain detention. Such detention must be authorised by an Inspector, who must take into account the IS duty of care for detainees and the likelihood that police cells do not provide adequate facilities for this purpose in the long term."

The current situation

6. The IS in London has been set challenging Home Office targets for 2004/05, to remove 6,300 failed asylum seekers and 6,000 other illegal immigrants. They are currently removing approximately 900 detainees per month, (approximately 550 of these are through enforcement activity), with approximately 55,000 people reporting regularly to one of the four London immigration centres each month while their cases are progressed.

7. The Immigration Service currently has access to 2,548 beds at nine Immigration Removal Centres in England and Scotland, two of which, Harmondsworth and Colnbrook, are located in the London area. Taking into account ongoing refurbishment programmes, there are currently 2,092 beds available in IS facilities, with occupancy running at approximately 95% to allow for flexibility. A further IS facility provides 400 beds for detainees identified for fast track removal, but this is not fed directly from MPS custody facilities.

8. At the July 2004 meeting of the Full Authority, members were advised that, during the months of January and February 2004, 39.5% of immigration detainees were removed from police cells within 24 hours and 92% within 72 hours. Analysis of MPS data for the months of April to October 2004 shows that 38.5% of immigration detainees were removed from police cells within 24 hours and 93% within 72 hours. While the length of detention of immigration detainees remained broadly consistent over the two periods, it is notable that the average number of IS detainees held in MPS custody facilities per month dropped from 553.5 per month over the initial reporting period, to 393.3 per month over the period to October 2004.

9. The removal of immigration detainees from MPS custody facilities to immigration holding cells and detention centres is the responsibility of the IS and is managed using IS transport arrangements. The national IS In Country Escorting contract for the transport of IS detainees was re-tendered in 2004, and the contract will transfer from Global Solutions Ltd to Securicor Justice Services Ltd on 1 May 2005. The new contract includes provision for a greater number of escorts and vehicles than the present contract, and there is also provision for an enhanced response to a proportion of ad hoc moves, (i.e. those tasked on the day, rather than planned in advance). The IS anticipates that these changes will speed up the transfer of IS detainees from MPS custody facilities to IS facilities, and therefore reduce the average time spent in police cells per detainee.

10. The majority of IS detainees held in police facilities are accommodated in mainstream borough custody suites. The MPS currently operates one custody facility dedicated to housing IS detainees who have been served with immigration papers, at Southwark Police Station. This facility opened on 7 June 2004 and has 13 cells. It housed 380 IS detainees in the period to the end of December 2004. Brentford Police Station, (situated in Hounslow borough), is currently under refurbishment; once this work is completed it will become a dedicated facility for immigration prisoners, using 5 cells, under the Southwark model. The joint MPS/IS MOU provides for arrangements for recovery of the full cost of detaining IS detainees by the MPS from the IS. Nationally, arrangements between the IS and individual forces currently vary, and work has recently begun through the relevant ACPO Portfolio to develop a common Police/Immigration Service Accommodation Protocol to harmonise arrangements across the country. The MPS will seek to ensure that the particular circumstances relating to London, including volume and community impacts, are properly reflected in any national arrangements.

11. The new MPS Custody Directorate has the lead for issues relating to the management of custody facilities across the organisation. Representatives of the Custody Directorate have been and will continue to be consulted in all matters relating to the MOU, which impinge on their area of responsibility.

C. Equality and diversity implications

1. Immigration Service operations, including those which take place supported by the MPS, have a particular impact on refugee and asylum seeker communities across London, and on a range of minority ethnic communities. The MPS is involved in developing links with refugee and asylum seeker communities through its participation in the MPS Asylum Seekers and Refugees Focus Group, and through the London Forum on Refugees and Asylum Seekers and Community Safety (LOFRASACS). The impact of immigration issues and operations is discussed at these forums, and those discussions are used to inform policy and practice.

2. All joint MPS/IS operations are the subject of a prior Community Impact Assessment, conducted according to a template set out in the joint MOU. This takes into account the potential impact on the diverse communities likely to be involved in or affected by the operation, and allows the particular knowledge and expertise of the local borough police to inform IS operational planning and risk assessment.

3. The new MPS Custody Directorate is developing and introducing corporate operating procedures to ensure fairness and equality across the range of custody services, including those provided to IS detainees whose circumstances and needs differ from those of MPS detainees. A revised policy for custody risk assessment provides a template for identifying individual detainee needs, taking into account equality issues.

D. Financial implications

In 2004/05 50% of the income received by means of costs recovered from the IS for the detention of IS detainees was retained centrally, and 50% was retained by boroughs providing the facilities. In 2005/06 100% of all costs recovered from the IS will be retained by boroughs, ensuring that the provision of these facilities is cost neutral to boroughs.

E. Background papers

• None

F. Contact details

Report author: Commander Rose Fitzpatrick, TPHQ

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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