Most Gatwick detainees remain in UK

♦ Four in five immigrant families who were detained at a removal centre were later allowed to remain in the UK, a report has found.

The prisons watchdog has called on the Home Office to examine why the unit near Gatwick Airport “routinely” failed to “achieve the objective of removal”.

The Chief Inspector of Prisons, Peter Clarke, said: “Detaining families is very costly and carries a considerable human impact.

“The bar for detaining children with their families has rightly been set high. However, the routine failure to achieve the objective of removal suggests that it could be set still higher.”

The Home Office said the number of families being removed via pre-departure accommodation was a small proportion of the total number returned through the family returns process.