We thought that it was helpful to highlight a recent Parliamentary question asked by Alison Thewliss MP of Simon Baynes MP, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office/ Ministry of Justice.
She asked him how much it costs to hold an individual under immigration powers in prison, per person per night.
His answer was that the current daily cost per individual in immigration detention, which includes individuals held under immigration powers in the prison estate, is £107.23. Just think what else we could do with that money to help support people through alternative schemes to detention such as the two recent Home Office pilot projects.
And this doesn’t give a value to the human cost of detaining someone indefinitely in immigration detention.
We think that there is a better way. And you will be hearing much more from us in the coming months of an alternative vision for a society without the need for immigration detention.
