Dear Mr Mason,

Internal Review- Freedom of Information Request

I write in response to the Internal Review request you made on 10 June 2009 in relation to a Freedom of Information request asking for comparable data on the number of detainees held in prison under the Immigration Act 1971. I am sorry for the delay in responding to you. The purpose of the Internal Review is to assess how the Freedom of Information request was handled in the first instance and on what basis the decision was made.

In the response that was sent to you on the 9 June 2009, you were informed that the information you requested was already in the public domain, and the information was, therefore, exempt from disclosure under section 21. Two website links were included in your letter as part of our duty to advise and assist you in your request for information.

I have reassessed your request and I have found that the website links that were given to you do not provide you with the information you requested, namely the number of detainees who are in prison custody under the Immigration Act 1971. During my investigation I discovered that the information you requested is held by the Ministry of Justice and I have included this information on a supporting document. I am sorry that this information was not provided to you in the first response.

The information attached to this letter provides a snapshot for the last week of every quarter between March 2008 and March 2009, and provides the number of people in individual prison establishments detained under the Immigration Act 1971.

It is important that you are aware that the information on the website remains the primary source of statistics on those detained under the Immigration Act 1971. I have included website links to these publications for your reference.

http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/prisonandprobation.htm

http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/populationincustody.htm

If you are dissatisfied with the result of your Internal Review, you have the right to apply to the Information Commissioner's Office under Section 50 of the FOIA. You can contact the Information Commissioner's Office at the following address:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Internet: https://www.ico.gov.uk/Global/contact_us.aspx

Yours sincerely,

Hannah Wright

Data Access & Compliance Unit