Member

I would be grateful if, in responding, the Minister could give us a sense of what the implementation of Clause 32 would mean in practice. In particular, how many offenders sentenced to more than three years’ imprisonment do the Government expect would be removed without serving any time in prison? Given that Clause 32 creates a discretionary power for the Secretary of State, how are the Government going to exercise that discretion? For example, will they take a different approach for certain offences and, if so, which ones and on what basis? What about the case of a foreign national who might benefit from the early removal arrangement and who flees the jurisdiction before trial? Will we still seek to have this person sent back to the UK to stand trial, or will we take the view that, given that the person has already inflicted upon himself the maximum punishment that we would conceivably impose for that offence, there is no need to do so?