1. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the United Kingdom Government about the welfare of people held at the Dungavel detention centre in light of recent protests held there. (S4T-01048)

The operation of Dungavel immigration removal centre is reserved and is the responsibility of the Home Office. However, following reports of a hunger strike at Dungavel, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners’ Rights wrote to the Home Secretary on 26 March 2015 to raise his concerns about the situation and a range of other issues, including indefinite detention, living conditions and the level of contact with immigration case work. A response was received from a Home Office official, as it was during the pre-election period. That response was not satisfactory, as it did not address the points that were raised.

The cabinet secretary therefore wrote again to the Home Secretary on 28 May to urge her to reconsider the issues. A response to that letter has not yet been received. The cabinet secretary will advise the member and other interested parties when a response is received and will pursue the matter further if necessary.

I thank the minister for that very interesting reply.

The minister will be aware that the Scottish Trades Union Congress and political and religious leaders have asked to meet detainees; in fact, they have written to Dungavel, as well. Although the manager was willing to facilitate that, the Home Office refused the request, which caused great concern—the minister raised that in her answer. Will the minister raise the fact—perhaps when she has looked at the reply when it has come—that those groups cannot gain access to the detainees in Dungavel, and will she pressurise the Home Office or whichever officer is available there to ensure that they gain access to the detainees?

I very much agree with the member. The Scottish Government very much supports those groups getting access to the facilities at Dungavel and talking to those who are detained there. That was one of the issues that the cabinet secretary raised in his letter. He pointed out that the delegation had asked for permission to meet the detainees and urged that permission be granted for the visit. Permission was refused in the letter that he received back from the Home Office official, as the member rightly said. The official said that, under normal circumstances, access to immigration removal is limited to organisations exercising statutory duties, social and legal visitors, and other visitor groups. That is not satisfactory. In the letter of 28 May, the cabinet secretary again urged the Home Secretary to reconsider her decision and to allow permission to those groups to enter Dungavel.

That is very encouraging. The minister talks about statutory duties. To my mind, any group, religious or otherwise, that goes to look after the welfare of detainees is carrying out a statutory duty. I look forward to that answer.

The minister will probably be aware that the United Kingdom is the only country in the European Union that detains people indefinitely. Will her department therefore support the recommendation of the Westminster all-party parliamentary groups on refugees and migration that there should be a time limit of 28 days for anyone to be held in detention? Does she agree with the 500 people, myself included, who demonstrated on Saturday because Dungavel is no fit place to detain anyone?

I very much agree that Dungavel is not a fit place to detain anyone, and I support the 500 people who demonstrated on Saturday. I appreciate that Sandra White has long campaigned against Dungavel.

The Scottish Government is deeply concerned about the indefinite length of time for which people can be detained in Dungavel, and we absolutely understand that that causes anxiety, stress, fear and health issues for people who are simply exercising their right to seek a place of safety in which they are free from persecution.

The Scottish Government supports the recent recommendation of the all-party parliamentary groups on refugees and migration that there should be a time limit of 28 days on the length of time that anyone can be held in immigration detention, and we believe that the presumption should be in favour of community-based resolutions and against detention. Again, the cabinet secretary raised that issue in his letter to the Home Secretary.

As the minister said, representatives of the Scottish Parliament have been refused any information at all about Dungavel for many years, even though it sits in Scotland. Is she aware of any local service involvement, for example by NHS Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire Council or Police Scotland, in relation to the state of health and wellbeing of those who are held at Dungavel?

The member makes a very good point. She illustrates very clearly that we have a situation in Scotland that is not in the control or the power of the Scottish Government. Therefore, it is almost isolated with its own rules and regulations that are not those of the Government.

We have been told that health services are provided but are commissioned by the Home Office. There is no direct link with the Scottish Government; any commission of service is simply between the Home Office and the service provider. Linda Fabiani will probably be aware of that. It is a situation that is not satisfactory and I know that it is one that she has campaigned on for some time. We can raise the issue again with the Home Office, but we have not had a great deal of encouraging responses on it so far.