To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals who are in prison or who have been convicted of a criminal offence but are not serving a custodial sentence are the subject of proceedings for deportation, extradition or other transfer to their country of nationality.

According to Ministry of Justice figures on 31 March 2010, there were 11,400 foreign nationals within the prison population (including those in the immigration removal centres Dover, Hasiar and Lindholme). This figure includes those held on remand, serving a custodial sentence (time-serving) and those held under immigration law (time-served). Foreign national prisoners will at some point during their sentence be considered for deportation against the following criteria;

A court recommendation;

For non-EEA nationals-a custodial sentence of 12 months or more either in one sentence, or as an aggregate of two or three sentences over a period of five years or a custodial sentence of any length for a drug offence (an offence other than possession only);

For EEA nationals - a custodial sentence of 12 months or more for an offence involving drugs, violent or sexual crimes or a custodial sentence of 24 months or more for other offences.

There was a monthly average in 2009 of 550 time-served foreign national offenders detained in prisons who the UKBA was seeking deportation against.