To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they did not disclose to Parliament the number of LGBT asylum seekers held in detention over the last eighteen months, despite several oral and written questions, but did disclose the figures through an FOI request by Attitude magazine.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why Campsfield House, Colnbrook, Harmondsworth and Tinsley House detention centres were unable to give full figures to Attitude magazine of the number of LGBT asylum seekers being held in detention and what action has been taken to rectify this.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many asylum seekers who have been recorded as LGBT have been held in detention over the last 12 months and what was the length of detention in each case.

On 27 February 2017, the Home Office responded to an FOI request asking for information relating to detainees who identify as LGBT in the immigration detention estate. The FOI asked for information relating to detainees who identify as LGBT in the immigration detention estate. This question concerns asylum seekers in detention who have been recorded as being based LGBT.

The FOI response, provided below, set out the number of individuals in detention who have disclosed their sexual orientation as LGBT as a snapshot (on 18 November 2016) and as a total number for the period from 1 January to 18 November 2016, see table below.

Service providers are required to provide opportunities for detainees who wish to do so, to safely disclose their sexual orientation and to ensure that those individuals can easily access support and assistance.

The data you have requested in relation to LGBT asylum seekers held in detention over the last 12 months and the length of detention in each case is not readily available. It is not incumbent upon a detained individual to declare their sexuality. The required information would only be recorded in the case notes sections within the Home Office database or held solely on the paper files. The time required to examine individual cases and extrapolate the required data, would exceed the £800 cost limit.

Where the number of people identified is low, a parameter is added to ensure individuals are not identifiable, in line with our obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998. This is provisional management information that is subject to change. It has not been assured to the standard of Official Statistics.