Offenders: Repatriation
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign national offenders subject to active deportation orders are residing in community accommodation; and what timeline her Department has established to enforce their removal from the United Kingdom.
Answered by Home Office
The information you have requested on the number of foreign national offenders (FNOs) living in the community subject to a deportation order and the timescales to remove them is not available from published information.
Latest published information shows that at the end of Q2 2026 there were 21,294 FNOs living in the community and subject to deportation. We will work tirelessly to clear legal barriers, secure documentation or overcome other impediments to a return. The latest published information can be found at: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK.
The increase in FNOs living in the community since last year mainly occurred after March 2026, coinciding with changes introduced through the Sentencing Act 2026. These changes have increased numbers by expanding the use of suspended sentences as an alternative to custody, and by broadening the duty to deport to include foreign national offenders given suspended sentences of 12 months or more.
In recognition of the impacts of the Sentencing Act, the Home Office is recruiting more staff to focus more intensively on community FNOs and continues to review what more can be done. Measures contained within the Immigration & Asylum Bill will reduce abuse and enable increased returns.
On 1 September 2026, further sentence exclusions were announced under the new Progression Model introduced by the Sentencing Act 2026, which will apply to all FNOs serving eligible custodial sentences. These exclusions will also apply to the expansion of the Early Removal Scheme (ERS) which will remove the requirement for eligible FNOs to serve any minimum custodial period before they can be deported. FNOs who are excluded from ERS0 may still be eligible for removal having served 30% of their custodial sentence.
Where deportation cannot take place before an FNO reaches their Progression Model release date, the Home Office will consider if it is appropriate to detain them under immigration powers or to release the individual subject to immigration bail and any HMPPS licence conditions.
In the time since this government came to power and 31 July 2026, 11,733 FNOs have been returned from the UK. In the two years since the election, there has been a 41% increase in FNO returns on the last two years of the previous government (1 July 2024 to 30 June 2026, when compared to the previous 2-year period), and we will continue to do everything we can to remove these vile criminals from our streets.
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