Joint Committee on Human Rights Immigration detention inquiry - transcript from December 5

Scope of the inquiry

The Committee seeks evidence on:

• Whether current legal and policy frameworks are sufficient in preventing people being detained wrongfully and whether current practices in the detention system protect human rights;
• Whether the initial decision to detain an individual should be made independently such as through prior judicial approval;
• Whether immigration detention should be time-limited;
• How far current policies ensure that people are only deprived of their liberty if it is necessary, rather than for administrative convenience; and
• Detainees’ access to legal advice and their ability to engage with the legal processes to challenge their detention.

The Committee will also take account of the recommendations within Stephen Shaw’s follow-up review into the welfare of vulnerable people in detention, once this is published.

Evidence given by Rt Hon Caroline Nokes MP, Minister of State for Immigration, and Tyson Hepple, Director General, Immigration Enforcement, Home Office