PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Prisoners: Repatriation (18 March 2015)

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average cost is to the public purse of repatriating a foreign national prisoner; and how many such prisoners have been repatriated since 2010.

Asked by:
Alison McGovern (Labour)

Foreign national offenders who have no right to remain in the UK should be removed at the earliest opportunity and the Government has toughened the system including compulsory transfer agreements with European countries.

In addition, 23,000 foreign offenders have been removed from the UK since 2010 and more than 600 under the 'deport first, appeal later' provisions, with many more being processed through the system. The grounds on which criminals can appeal against deportation have been cut.

Since 2010, there have been 206 foreign national prisoners transferred from prisons in England and Wales to prisons in their country of nationality in order to serve the remainder of their sentence there. The average cost of these transfers was approximately £1,640. This figure includes all the elements of an escort, including staff costs, travel and subsistence, vehicle costs, flights, and any accommodation that might be required by staff prior to their return journey.

Following a prisoner’s transfer to another state, that receiving state will bear the costs of their continued detention until release.

Answered by:
Andrew Selous (Conservative)
23 March 2015