Clause 15
Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill
12:30 pm
David Heath (Shadow Secretary of State for Justice & Lord Chancellor, Ministry of Justice; Somerton and Frome, Liberal Democrat)
I simply wish to add a few comments. We undoubtedly have a problem with foreign prisoners who should have been deported, but that is more of an administrative problem than a legal one. I am not convinced that there is a gaping loophole in the present statutory provisions, but I am utterly convinced that there is a huge administrative loophole, which I hope will be addressed, given the inability of the Prison Service and the immigration authorities to work closely together to ensure that proper measures are taken to label prisoners due for imminent release so that they know where there is a recommendation for deportation, and can effect that removal on release. That should not be the most difficult thing in the world.
I found myself defending the Minister of State on the question of prisons used for foreign prisoners, which I regard as a positive move. If one can congregate those prisoners in one place, it is administratively easier to effect their removal. That is an entirely proper and sensible thing to do, and I do not have a problem with it. However, there are some countries with which we have a substantial problem, including Jamaica, and I think that the Under-Secretary of State for Justice, the hon. Member for Liverpool, Garston (Maria Eagle) travelled to Kingston to discuss it.