If he will make it his policy to negotiate prisoner transfer agreements with the three countries with the largest foreign prisoner populations in England and Wales.

It is Government policy to negotiate prisoner transfer agreements, particularly with those countries with large numbers of nationals in our prisons. As of 30 June 2009, the three countries with the largest numbers were Jamaica, Nigeria and the Republic of Ireland. We have prisoner transfer agreements with the Republic of Ireland and Nigeria. A prisoner transfer agreement was signed with Jamaica in June 2007 but has yet to be implemented as the Jamaican Government need to introduce enabling legislation.

Given that we have a prisoner transfer agreement with Nigeria, will the Minister tell the House how many Nigerians are serving time in jails in England and Wales and why those people are not returned to their country of origin?

Currently, the arrangements require the consent of prisoners to be transferred. Nigeria is a signatory, so we can now transfer prisoners voluntarily to serve their sentences at home. We are negotiating a compulsory transfer agreement. Enabling legislation is at the committee stage in the Nigerian National Assembly, so I hope that in due course, in the not-too-distant future, we will be able to transfer prisoners whether or not they agree to the transfer.