Projects at Haslar and Campsfield Immigration Removal Centres will contribute to a 40% increase in the UK’s detention capacity. The expansions will more than triple the cumulative capacity at these centres from 290 to 1,000 beds.
Returns and enforcement figures
The Home Office says returns and deportations are at their highest level in nearly a decade. Nearly 70,000 individuals with no right to be here have been removed since the current government took office. Of these, 10,000 were foreign national offenders.
A report from the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration showed the government inherited a migration system with over 412,000 illegal migrants in the UK. Deportations have risen 41% compared with the previous 21-month period, while removals of foreign national offenders have risen 36%.
Planned changes to enforcement and legislation
The Home Secretary will double the Immigration Enforcement budget by 2028 to 2029 and increase workforce numbers by 60% from 2024 levels by 2026 to 2027. As confirmed in the King’s Speech, the government will bring forward an Immigration and Asylum Bill that will reform human rights laws such as modern slavery legislation and Article 8 of the ECHR.