Baroness Hamwee:

Moved by Baroness Hamwee

187: After Clause 78, insert the following new Clause—“Time limit on immigration detention(1) This section applies to any person (“P”) who is liable to detention under a relevant detention power.(2) P may not be detained under a relevant detention power for a period of more than 28 days from the relevant time.(3) If P remains detained under a relevant detention power at the expiry of the period of 28 days then—(a) P must be released forthwith, and(b) P may not be detained under a relevant detention power thereafter, unless the Secretary of State or an immigration officer, as the case may be, is satisfied that there has been a material change of circumstances since P’s release and that the criteria in section (Initial detention: criteria and duration)(1) are met.(4) In this section, “relevant detention power” means a power to detain under—(a) paragraph 16(2) of Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971 (detention of persons liable to examination or removal);(b) paragraph 2(1), (2) or (3) of Schedule 3 to that Act (detention pending deportation);(c) section 62 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (detention of persons liable to examination or removal); or(d) section 36(1) of the UK Borders Act 2007 (detention pending deportation).(5) In this section, “relevant time” means the time at which P is first detained under a relevant detention power.(6) This section does not apply to a person in respect of whom the Secretary of State has certified that the decision to detain is or was taken in the interests of national security.”Member’s explanatory statementThis new Clause would prevent people who are liable to detention under a relevant power from being detained for longer than 28 days.

My Lords, I will move the amendment tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Chakrabarti, and supported by the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, because I feel so strongly about the subject. Who knows, the Government might have something new to say; I would not want the Minister to waste her speech. I am not sure whether the noble Baroness, Lady Williams, will be replying—she is nodding. I want to use this opportunity to thank the noble Lords on the Government Front Bench at the moment for their courtesy through a number of trying hours. There is a lot that I do not agree with—I have made no secret of the fact that I think this is an awful Bill—but we always appreciate how the noble Baroness approaches everything. She must be very tired but she does not show it. I just wanted to express my thanks; I have heard such comments outside the Chamber as well.

Last night, I discovered that the beautifully honed notes for my speech had disappeared. It was not so beautiful as to include “civis Britannicus”, though—if I have got that right. Perhaps I dreamed that I wrote it because this is not the first time that I have spoken on the importance of immigration detention not being indefinite, although it may be the shortest speech I have made on the subject. Some of the amendments may be in the same form as ones I have spoken to in the past and divided on.

Detention centres are formally immigration removal centres because they are for the removal of people liable to be removed, not indefinite incarceration. In a lot of our debates over the years, the Government have said that people are not detained for that long. That is not point. Some are, of course—some are detained for a long time—but it is uncertainty and lack of hope that characterise indefinite detention. We have often heard from ex-detainees of the loss of hope and its impact on them.

I want to mention one other amendment in this group, on ending the use of privately run places of detention. It is not something we have previously debated, I think, but I recall having a conversation with Brandon Lewis when he was the Minister in the relevant department—at least I got his name right this time—following revelations about Brook House. I asked him why the Government did not just terminate the contract with the contractor. He said, “We’d end up with the same staff because they’d be transferred or they’d reapply for their jobs, and there are not many people who want to do the job”. I did not find that entirely convincing; rather, it was not a complete answer. I fear that the ship of having only state-run detention centres has sailed but, if the Minister has notes that refer to this, I think that the Committee—or, if not the Committee, the people who read Hansard—would be glad to hear them. I beg to move.

My Lords, I will speak very briefly to support the amendment. Seven years ago, I was a member of the inquiry by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Refugees into detention. We called for time limits and had strong support across both Houses of Parliament, yet here we are, seven years later, still having to make the same arguments. Despite the Shaw reforms, there is still evidence of people who have survived traumatic experiences being detained and evidence of the damage it does to them and their health. There is evidence to suggest that the indefinite nature of detention contributes to mental ill health for the reasons that the noble Baroness has given—uncertainty, the lack of hope, and so forth.

I really hope the Minister will not respond by saying that detention is not indefinite, because that is semantics. She is laughing; I am sure that is in her brief. The fact that people are released does not mean it is not indefinite—the lack of a clear time limit is the popular understanding of what “indefinite” means. There is no time limit, so people do not know how long they are going to be kept there, and my memory from that inquiry of when we talked to people who had been in detention was that it is worse than being in prison because you do not know when you are coming out.

The only other point I want to make—maybe this is not the time and maybe the Minister can write to us—is that I wonder where we have got to on community-based alternatives to detention. That was put forward as a possibility and I know there were pilots. Given that a high proportion of those detained are released back into the community, it seems to make a lot of sense to try and do it in the community as far as possible, as opposed to these terrible detention centres. But please do not say that detention is not indefinite because it is, in the way it is experienced.

My Lords, I want to say a few sentences as my last words in Committee—thank goodness, at 11 o’clock at night. I agree with what my noble friend Lady Hamwee has said, and I applaud everything she has done over the years on immigration detention—and the noble Baroness, Lady Lister of Burtersett. Both are doughty champions of trying to constrain immigration detention and stop it being indefinite. I do not have their background on this subject, but I know that the Minister has grappled with them—if I can put it like that—over the years, and if she had some encouraging news for them that would be a great way to end the Committee.

I certainly endorse the words of the noble Baroness, Lady Ludford, about my noble friend Lady Lister of Burtersett and the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee. I will be brief, but in 2019 the Home Affairs Select Committee reported that it had found

“serious problems with almost every element of the immigration detention system.”

It said:

“It is time to implement radical change” and, in line with the Joint Committee on Human Rights, urged the Government to bring an end to indefinite immigration detention and to implement a maximum 28-day time limit with immediate effect. The Government have, so far, refused to act on this recommendation despite votes in this House in favour of a time limit. I simply conclude by asking what plans the Government have to overhaul immigration detention, including limiting the length of its use.

My Lords, I will start by making the noble Baroness, Lady Lister, happy by talking about alternatives to detention and managing people in the community, because 95% of people who are liable to removal from the UK are actually managed in the community while their cases are progressed. That obviously demonstrates, for a start, that we are using alternatives to detention to manage those without status in the UK.

Following the Home Secretary’s announcement back in July 2018, officials have been working with the UNHCR to develop and deliver two pilots to provide those who would otherwise be detained with a programme of case management support in the community, including access to legal advice to progress their cases to conclusion. The first pilot, Action Access, concluded on 31 March last year. I understand that the UNHCR evaluation has just been published and I will send a link to that, if I can. The second pilot, the Refugee and Migrant Advice Service, is currently supporting men and women in the community and will remain in operation until June of this year, with a further UNHCR evaluation to follow.

The noble Baroness also mentioned the Stephen Shaw reforms—I am now working backwards in my speech. The Government have commissioned two of them and I think that they form an important part of our ongoing immigration detention reform programme. We have introduced significant reforms in the last few years, including the detention gatekeeper assessing the suitability of all those referred for detention, independently of those making the referral, which brings consistency and scrutiny to prevent potentially vulnerable individuals from being detained. We have case progression panels, which consider whether continuing detention is actually appropriate in the light of progression to return and any changes in vulnerability. The adult risk policy ensures that an appropriate balance is struck between vulnerability and immigration considerations. There are now also more Home Office staff in IRCs and a higher ratio of supplier staff to people in detention.

The noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, mentioned Brook House, absolutely rightly. We have implemented steps across the detention estate to enhance assurance and oversight of service provision. We have strengthened our capacity to monitor performance across the estate. This includes: action to refresh and reinforce whistleblowing; improving information flows on and analysis of complaints, incidents and use of force to better enable effective interventions, where appropriate; strengthening service and contract monitoring within IRCs; and enhancing supplier and Home Office engagement with people in detention.

In the period ahead, new contracts will set high expectations for the quality of management and staffing in IRCs. The contract for the recently opened Derwentside IRC, and the new contract to operate Dungavel House IRC, take into account Stephen Shaw’s two reviews of vulnerability in detention and the lessons from the events of Brook House in 2017, in particular through strengthening IRC staffing levels, professional skills in staff and an assurance on whistleblowing procedures. The design of the new IRC contract also takes into account the findings from the National Audit Office’s review of the management of the Brook House IRC contract in 2019, with more importance given to issues of safeguarding, the welfare of detained individuals, staff culture and training. I hope that noble Lords can see the sort of progress that has been made over the last few years.

I think that I have talked through Amendments 187 to 189. Let me just touch on Amendment 189. The proposal for the judiciary to be involved in considering cases at or around the 96-hour period of detention would place significant additional burdens on the Courts & Tribunals Service and legal aid budgets, due to the dramatic rise in the number of cases that would need to be referred. These increases would make the system unsustainable without significant reform.

The statutory powers to detain are rightly vested in the Secretary of State. Going back to the point of the noble Baroness, Lady Lister, it is unlawful to detain people indefinitely. There are safeguards in the system, including access to the courts in the form of judicial review, bail applications and automatic referrals for consideration of bail.

On privately run institutions, the needs of those in detention are safeguarded by a robust statutory and policy framework for operating the immigration detention estate. This includes: the Detention Centre Rules, the Short-term Holding Facility Rules, published operating standards for IRCs, escorting and pre-departure accommodation, and published detention services orders, which provide detailed operational guidance. We are very committed to ensuring that everyone in immigration detention is treated in line with proper standards of care and decency. Robust statutory oversight is provided by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons and the independent monitoring boards.

The Home Office contracts specialised private sector companies to provide a wide range of custodial services for the operation, management and maintenance of those in the detention estate. However, although the operation, management and maintenance of IRCs is undertaken by experienced custodial suppliers, it is important to note that the Home Office has overall responsibility for ensuring that companies meet the required standards. In every IRC we have a Home Office compliance team, which is responsible for ensuring that suppliers are fulfilling their contractual requirements. They monitor the services provided, the treatment of detained individuals and the condition of the establishment, and ensure that the Home Office receives effective service and value for money. We have also introduced dedicated teams in each IRC to engage proactively with detained individuals and liaise between them and their Home Office caseworkers.

The noble Baroness, Lady Lister, rightly talked about mental health issues in IRCs. We have 24-hour medical provision in IRCs, but she is absolutely right that mental health issues must be of prime concern. I also mentioned earlier the adults at risk policy.

I think that is about it, but I close by saying that detention decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. I hope that, with those rather random responses, going backwards, the noble Baroness will be happy to withdraw her amendment.

I may have missed it because of the lateness of the hour, but I am not sure the Minister addressed the central proposition that there should be a time limit to detention.

I did address that point. The noble Baroness will not be surprised to know that we are against putting time limits in the Bill because of the potential for abuse. I have said this before, and opposition to it has not changed our mind.

My Lords, obviously that is disappointing. I do not feel I am in a position to judge what, on the face of it, seems encouraging from the comments that have been made about improvement of detention arrangements. I will be very interested to see the UNHCR evaluation that the Minister mentioned. However, I cannot help saying—I suppose it is the role of the Opposition to approach assurances with our own questions—that I remember the gatekeeper point and that the JCHR, of which I was a member, was unpersuaded that that role was effective.

With regard to the points on care and decency, not just in Brook House but throughout the detention estate, it seems that it took the media to prompt action and not the reports by inspectorates and others through the system. I suspect that the explanation we have had may prompt views from the sector; let us see what happens. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

Amendment 187 withdrawn.

Amendments 188 to 191 not moved.

Amendment 192 had been withdrawn from the Marshalled List.

Amendments 193 and 193A not moved.

Clause 79 agreed.

Clause 80: Transitional and consequential provision

Amendment 194 not moved.

Clause 80 agreed.

Clause 81 agreed

Clause 82: Extent

Amendment 194A not moved.

Clause 82 agreed.

Clause 83: Commencement

Amendment 195 and 196 not moved.

Clause 83 agreed.

Clause 84 agreed.

House resumed.

Bill reported without amendment.

House adjourned at 11.18 pm.