To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of women in immigration detention.

95% of individuals liable for removal at any one time are managed within the community through immigration bail and regular reporting, rather than within an immigration removal centre. Alternatives to detention are not, of course, alternatives to case resolution, and our objective is to achieve better outcomes for migrants, meaning quicker resolution of their case whether the result is a grant of leave or the migrant’s departure (preferably voluntary) from the UK.

The Home Secretary said - in his statement to parliament on 24 July introducing Stephen Shaw’s follow up report on immigration detention - that he had asked the Home Office to do more to explore alternatives to detention with faith groups, with non-governmental organisations and within communities. Working with UNHCR, a pilot scheme is being developed that will manage a number of women in the community who would otherwise be detained at Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre, meaning that rather than receiving support and care in an immigration removal centre, the women in question will get a programme of support and care in the community.