Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-05-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which immigration removal centres were inspected by the Office of Surveillance Commissioners related to the use of property interference by immigration officers in each of the last five years.
James Brokenshire
There has been no change in Immigration Rules in relation to the use of property interference by immigration officers. Part III Sections 55(1) and (2) of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 amended the Police Act 1997 and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) in 2013 to empower officials within the Home Office exercising immigration functions to seek authority for property interference solely for the purpose of preventing and detecting serious crime. Immigration removal centres themselves cannot seek property interference authorisations.
The Office of Surveillance Commissioners (OSC) scrutinise every application for property interference made by immigration officers upon authorisation and also retrospectively oversee any use of the power to ensure compliance. The OSC publish an annual report, which refers to the overall use of these powers by public authorities including the Home Office.
The Home Office does not provide information on individual Immigration Removal Centres visited by the OSC, or investigations carried out within them.
The Investigatory Powers Bill will replace the current oversight regime with a powerful In-vestigatory Powers Commissioner who will have the support, powers, resources and tech-nical expertise to continue to ensure that these powers are being used fully in accordance with the law.
