UK Borders Bill

moved Amendment No. 27: 27: After Clause 21, insert the following new Clause— ““Detained children: guidelines and information (1) The Secretary of State must publish guidelines specifying the maximum length of time during which a child may be detained under any provision of the Immigration Acts. (2) The guidelines under subsection (1) may specify different periods of time for— (a) children of different ages; (b) children originating from, or due to be returned to, different countries; (c) children falling into different classes as specified in the guidelines. (3) By 31 March of each year, the Secretary of State shall publish an annual report detailing: (a) the number of children detained during the previous year whose detention lasted up to— (i) one week; (ii) two weeks; (iii) one month; (iv) three months; (v) six months; (vi) one year; (vii) a period longer than one year. (b) the number of times each of those children was detained; (c) following their release from detention, the number of children in each year— (i) who were removed from the United Kingdom; (ii) who were granted permanent leave of residence; (iii) who were granted temporary admission; (iv) whose destination falls into any other category to be determined by the Secretary of State. (4) For the purposes of this section— (a) ““child”” means any person who has not reached the age of 18 years at the commencement of the year to which the relevant annual report relates; (b) ““year”” means a calendar year.”” The noble Earl said: My Lords, this amendment would require Her Majesty’s Government to publish guidelines specifying the maximum length of time spent by children in detention within the immigration system and to publish regular updates on the number of children being detained, the length of their stay, their previous detention and what becomes of them when they leave detention. The purpose of the amendment is to probe the Government a little and to elicit further information from them, thereby increasing transparency. The Minister said in Committee: "““We want to ensure that children are detained only where absolutely necessary””.—[Official Report, 23/7/07; col. GC161.]" In the past, a few children have been detained for unacceptably long periods despite various apparent protections such as ministerial authorisation for detention. We were reminded of this by the noble Lord, Lord Judd, at our previous sitting when he told us that some children are still being held for a month to two months, and some for even longer than that. There are only a few but, still, they are being held. The purpose of the information is to be aware of how the Government are performing and to express our concern as soon as performance begins to slip, if it does. In Committee the Minister said that the Border and Immigration Agency is considering ways to improve the statistical information available on the detention of children. I have recently heard from the Minister, Liam Byrne, who gave me a little more information, and I would be grateful for any news of further progress on that review. The Minister was asked in Committee how many children had previously been detained, and to indicate whether some children will have been in and out a number of times. He replied: "““I do not have that information, and I do not think it is””" centrally collected. "““It is not frequently the case that people come in and out of detention. It may well happen from time to time, but I do not have data on it. I will see what further information we can provide””.—[Official Report, 23/7/07; col. GC 161.]" Perhaps he would be good enough to write to me with that information if it is available. I hope circular detention happens infrequently. I have met but a few detainees on past visits, but at least one of them had had that experience. It would be helpful to have further reassurance. I look forward to the Minister’s response.