The Public Accounts Committee report found that 151 foreign criminals had been released onto the streets between 2009 and 2014 without the consideration of deportation, despite Home Office rules stating that foreigners from outside the EU who have served more than a year in prison should be automatically assessed for removal.
For European nationals, they must be considered for deportation if they have served two years in prison, unless they are convicted of sexual or violence-related crime, where they only need to serve a year to be assessed.
However the Public Accounts Committee found that many of these prisoners were not assessed, a breach of Department rules which were introduced in 2006.
Of the 151 released criminals, the whereabouts of 10 are unknown, sparking questions about the Home Office's approach to prisoner releases, and reigniting the debate about community safety.
Not good enough
Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts, the Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP said the report showed the current Home Office's handling of the issue was 'not good enough.'
"There has been a complete failure to improve the management and removal of foreign national offenders. Despite firm commitments to improve and a massive ten-fold increase in resources, the system still appears to be dysfunctional," she said.
"We are dismayed to find so little progress has been made in the eight years since this Committee last looked at this issue."
On top of the release of foreign prisoners without being considered for deportation, the report also criticised the efficiency of current systems, citing that as of March 2014, there were more than 4,000 released foreign offenders who were still living in the community awaiting to be removed, and that one in six — 758 — had absconded and their whereabouts were unknown to authorities.
It's costs us £360M per year on foreign prisoners! What are we doing, deport them, let their own country's house em #24hoursinpolicecustody
— SB (@UK_Soldier1) January 20, 2015
The report also noted that the Home Office had been forced to pay out £6.2 million in compensation to 229 foreign offenders since April 2012, as a result of delays in dealing with cases.
The report will be particularly unwelcome news for Home Secretary Theresa May, after Labour Home Secretary Charles Clarke resigned over the same issue in 2006.
In that case, Mr Clarke resigned after the same parliamentary committee found that hundreds of foreign prisoners had committed crimes following their release from prison, but before being deported.
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the report showed the Home Office's 'failure and incompetence' to be able to deal with the issue.
"A shocking 750 criminals who were supposed to be deported — including rapists and violent offenders — have gone missing in Britain and the Home Office hasn't a clue where they are.
"Theresa May should explain urgently why 151 foreign offenders have been released from prison without even being considered for deportation — including 2 for sexual assault — and why over the last two years the department has been forced to pay out £6.2million in compensation to 229 offenders because of Home Office delays in dealing with their cases," she said.
What are the rules?
Following the scandal of Charles Clarke's resignation in 2006, rules were introduced where prison chiefs inform Home Office departments when a foreign criminal is nearing the end of their sentence.
The Home Office then reviews the prisoner's file and makes a decision about whether they should be deported from the UK.
If it is decided that the prisoner should be deported, then they should be taken to an immigration detention centre before being deported.
The UK cannot deport foreign prisoners, but at least we can stop two Zimbabweans coming to attend their 5-year-old granddaughter's funeral.
— Rob Preece (@RobPreeceOnline) January 20, 2015
Immigration and Security Minister James Brokenshire defended the government's action on foreign criminals, citing new ‘deport first, appeal later' rules, which have led to the removal of roughly 400 foreign offenders.
He also said that the government was "dealing more robustly than ever before with those who break our laws. Joint work with the police to intercept foreign nationals in custody suites has led to 3,300 removals since 2012, while police checks on the overseas convictions of EU nationals are up almost 600 per cent under this government."
The Public Accounts Committee has once again highlighted some of the flaws in the UK's handling and management of deporting foreign criminals, particularly at a time when immigration and public safety are high on the agenda.
And just as those in society who break the rules are punished, the British public will decide just how much the current government will pay for this issue when they head to the polls in May.
