ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS DETAINED IN POLICE CELLS 'DEEPLY WORRYING'

3.20.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 26th Jul 2004

Commenting on the Figures compiled for the Metropolitan Police Authority that show in February of this year, 12 illegal immigrant detainees were held for up to 120 hours in London with one held for more than 168 hours, breeching Immigration Service guidelines, Liberal Democrat Metropolitan Police Authority Member, Lynne Featherstone, said:-

"The fact that suspected illegal immigrants are being held in police cells for up to a week is deeply worrying when the Immigration Services' own guidelines state that cells should only be used for a maximum of 2 days.

"The Home Office should be taking responsibility for housing these detainees in the appropriate facilities, to relieve the burden off the Met and ensure that there are enough cells to detain suspected criminals. Police Stations are unlikely to have the adequate and appropriate facilities necessary for detainees to get the right services, in the right time and the right place.

"If police cells have to be used, then they should be designed and designated for such use and must only be held there for the maximum 48 hours."

ENDS

Notes to editor

· Demand for custody suites across the MPS is increasing. Annual numbers coming into custody rose from 270,000 (2001) to 293,000 (2003) according to the MPS (Service Improvement Review of Custody Capacity, 2004).

· The MPS has a shortage of cells - of 1097 as at March 2004 cells only 775 were 'fully available'. One third of BOCUs need at least 15 more cells to meet current demand (MPS SIR of Custody Capacity, 2004).

· There is a shortage of substantive sergeants to resource borough custody facilities.

· Immigration Service officers in London are removing approx 750 detainees a month in its efforts to meet Govt targets of removing 6300 failed asylum seekers and 6000 other illegal immigrants a year. However the IS itself has only 30 beds available for immigration detainees - hence the need to resort to using police cells.

· It is expected that demands on MPS custody facilities by the IS will only increase, with the ongoing Government 'clamp-down' on illegal immigrants and an expansion of the number of IS arrest officers in London from 70 to 200. Already, according to the MPS, "The original contract signed with the private contractor 'Wackenhut' to transfer immigration detainees is no longer fit for purpose due to the significant increase in IS activity. This regularly leads to delays in transfer. Equally, a shortage of trained custody sergeants across the MPS coming at the same time as an increase in IS activity has brought its challenges."