The Home Office has conceded that Labour's sentencing reforms have led to a record number of foreign criminals living in communities across Britain. Some 21,294 convicted foreign national offenders (FNOs) are currently residing in the community because they have not been deported.
This figure has risen by more than 1,000 in the past three months alone, with officials attributing the increase to changes in sentencing rules introduced by the Government.
Changes to sentencing and deportation rules
Ministers introduced a “presumption” against sentences of under 12 months and adjusted deportation rules in an attempt to remove foreign criminals who had been given a suspended sentence of 12 months or more. However, critics have expressed concern that this approach is “just making more people eligible for return who aren’t going to leave”.
When Labour took office, 18,157 FNOs were living in the community. The number has since increased by nearly 10%, from 18,074 to 21,294.
Failed asylum seekers receiving support
Home Office figures show that 929 FNOs are receiving Section 4 support, which provides housing and financial assistance to failed asylum seekers whose claims for sanctuary have been refused and their appeals rejected. This cohort accounts for almost one in five of all failed asylum seekers still being supported by taxpayers.
Additionally, some 1,500 offenders from overseas have been given free homes because they cannot be deported.
Rise in numbers since 2012
The number of FNOs living in communities despite being eligible for deportation has soared from 3,943 in 2012 to 21,294 this year. It has nearly doubled from 10,373 in the final three months of 2020.
Home Office figures, revealed through Freedom of Information requests submitted by the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, show that many countries refuse to take back their nationals. Human rights laws also prevent the Home Office from deporting convicted criminals to countries such as Afghanistan, Sudan, Eritrea, Iran and Syria.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “A little over two years into office and the asylum backlog is down, the number of asylum seekers in hotels is falling, illegal working arrests are at record levels, and deportations and returns are up markedly.”
She added: “Small boats numbers are also now falling, but we are not complacent and there is more we must do. That is why I have boosted enforcement on the French beaches and overseas and introduced new legislation to tackle the pull factors that draw people here through unsafe and illegal routes.”
Mahmood concluded: “This government is restoring control at our border and fairness to the migration system.”
