IND: Family removals policy (Issued March 2006)

Contents
1. Introduction.
2. Pastoral Visits.
3. Arrest Teams / Mixed Teams. 4. Same Day Removals.
5. Removal of Incomplete Families. 6. United Kingdom Born Children. 7. Arrest and Detention
8. Absent Family Members
9. Children at Risk
10. Car Seats
11. Training
12. Control and Restraint of Minors

1.Introduction.

1.1. This notice supersedes all previous family removal policy notices with immediate effect and details the policy regarding those people with dependant (aged under 18) children, who are liable to be removed as either:

. Illegal entrants

. Overstayers

. Persons in breach of their conditions of leave

. A person who has gained (or attempted to gain) leave by deception.

. Deportees

. Persons refused leave to enter

1.2. A person in any of the above categories will become liable for removal, as will their spouse and/ or dependant children, once their application has been considered and all avenues of appeal have been exhausted.

2. Pastoral Visits.

2.1. While giving evidence to the Select Committee on Home Affairs the then Home Office Minister Beverley Hughes stated" in the case of families, a pastoral visit is usually paid by the Immigration Service before removal.. .." Pastoral visits provide for the gathering of information regarding the circumstances of the family concerned and ensure that important issues such as medical or special needs are taken into account when deciding on arrest, detention, transportation and / or removal.

2.2. However, where there is good reason to suggest that a pastoral visit would adversely affect our attempts at removal (e.g. if there is evidence to suspect that the family may abscond following a pastoral visit), a written report or file minute detailing the reasons for the suspicion, must be submitted to an Immigration Inspector (HMI). The HMI will then decide whether or not the pastoral visit should be undertaken.

2.3. To ensure compliance with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIP A) ¬officers undertaking pastoral visits must produce identification showing their status when conducting the visit.

2.4. Officers must undertake the full range of pre-visit checks and assessments before undertaking a pastoral visit. Personal Protective Equipment (pPE - body armour) must be worn in line with the risk assessment when undertaking pastoral visits. In view of the nature of this type of visit it is preferable that, where possible, this be worn covertly.

3. Arrest Teams / Mixed Teams.

3.1. Arrest trained staff can undertake family removal activity without an immediate police presence. Family removal visits are governed by the policy covering mixed teams (EPU 04/04)

4. Same Day Removals.

4.1. Following the tragic death of Joy Gardner, Ministers made a public commitment that, other than in the most exceptional circumstances, people detained by the Immigration Service (IS) would not be removed on the day of detention. This policy remains extant.

4.2. Where it is considered that the circumstances of a particular case dictate a same day removal reference must be made, in writing, to an Assistant Director (AD) or above.

5. Removal of Incomplete Families.

5.1. Where it is proposed that Removal Directions (RDs) are given which would result in only part of the family being removed and where the split has been caused by the behaviour of the members of the family (e.g. absconding or not turning up to self check¬in), authority to remove must be obtained in writing at Assistant Director level or above on every occaSlOn.

5.2. Ministerial consent must be sought where:

. we are seeking to separate a family by removing part of the family to one country and the other part of the family to a different country; or

. we are seeking to remove part of the family while not actively seeking to remove the other part. (i.e. where a travel document is not available).

5.3. Ministerial consent does not need to be sought where:

. the family unit did not exist prior to arrival in the UK;

. we detain the head of the household and issue self check-in removal directions to the rest of the family to the same country;

. one part of the family absconds or separates him/herself through their own actions (i.e. one parent places the children with friends in an attempt to thwart removal).

5.4. Additionally, when a decision is taken to split a family there must be a clear and transparent audit trail of the considerations that were given to try and keep the family together as one unit. This is to be done in all cases where a decision is being made to split a family whether at Assistant Director, Director or Ministerial level. There is not an exhaustive list of checks that can or should be conducted but below are a few examples of some of the considerations that will need to be borne in mind:

. the family being advised of the voluntary returns programme and if this was rejected;

. contact with an embassy if appropriate to enquire about obtaining a visa for one of the parties to be returned to the other parties country (i.e. feasibility and timescales are clearly factors to be taken into account. Caseworkers or operational staff involved in the family removals process should ensure they consider facilitating the visa application, for example by offering to fund it); or

. whether either party may have a right of residence in the other party's country.

6. United Kingdom Born Children

6.1. The following procedures should be followed with respect of children who are encountered who:

. Have been born in the United Kingdom.

. Whose presence in the UK was not previously known to the IS.

6.2. Children of persons refused leave to enter and illegal entrants - Paragraph lOA of Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971 ("the 1971 Act'') (inserted by section 73(1) of the Nationality, Immigration & Asylum Act 2002 ("the 2002 Act'')) states that where directions have been given in respect of a person under any of paragraphs 8 to 10 (i.e. persons refused leave to enter and illegal entrants) equivalent removal directions may be given in respect of a member of that person's family. This enables us to enforce the removal of the spouse and/ or dependent children aged under 18 of a person refused leave to enter or an illegal entrant.

6.3. Children whose parents are liable to administrative removal- Section 10(1)(c) of the Immigration & Asylum Act 1999 (as amended by section 73 of the 2002 Act) allows for removal directions to be served on the family members of those who have had directions served on them under the section (i.e. overstayers, those in breach of their conditions of leave, those who have had their indefinite leave revoked under section 76 of the 2002 Act and those who have obtained (or have attempted to obtain) leave to remain by deception). Section 1 0(4) of the 1999 Act (as amended by section 73 of the 2002 Act) states that a family member cannot be removed as such if more than eight weeks have elapsed since the removal of the main offender.

6.4. United Kingdom born children should be served with form IS151A in line with their parents, followed by form IS151A part 2. Form IS151D should be served once removal details are known.

6.5. Children of deportees - Section 3(5)(b) of the 1971 Act allows us to deport the non¬British family members of a person who has been deported or has been ordered to be deported. Reference should be made to the relevant casework section to ascertain current procedures and forms.

7. Arrest and Detention

7.1. A person whom we have reasonable grounds to suspect is a person in respect of whom directions may be given may be detained under paragraph 16(2) of Schedule 2 of the 1971 Act. Such a person or family member may be arrested under paragraph 17. A family should be arrested as a whole (including dependants) and the arrest should be made as soon as practicable. Persons can only be taken into detention, under paragraph 16, at a designated place of detention.

8. Absent Family Members

8.1. A pastoral visit will have highlighted the best time of day to pick up a family as an entire unit. However, inevitably there will be occasions when a visit is made in order to arrest a family and a member of the family is not present at the address. Each case must be considered on its merits and consideration should be given to the appropriateness of continuing with the operation. If it is decided to continue with the operation the following options should be considered:

Absent Children:

Every effort must be made to reunite the child with their family as soon as possible. The following should be considered:

. take all of the other family members to collect the separated child on the way to the place of detention

. take the other family members to the place of detention, then ask a parent to accompany you to collect the separated child

. if it is not possible to take one of the options above, visit the address where the child is and ask a responsible or appropriate adult (who should not be an employee of the Immigration Service) to accompany the child to be re-united with his/her family.

A child should not be arrested whilst he is isolated from other adult family members. Once a child is reunited with his/her family, arrest should be in line with other members of the family. However, if an adult family member or the child him/herself refuses to co¬operate with attempts to voluntarily reunite the child with the rest of the family, arrest may be considered but must only be made on the authority of an AD and once an assessment of the subsequent community impact has been made.

Absent Adults:

When an adult family member is not present when a visit is made in order to arrest and detain a family, consideration should be given to the following options:

. If the whereabouts of the absent person are unknown, arrest and detain the present family members but leave a message (in the person's own language) on official IS headed note paper, detailing the whereabouts of their family and contact details. Once contact is made, inform the person concerned that their family is in immigration detention awaiting removal. They should be given the opportunity to join their family in detention prior to removal of the family as a whole.

. If the whereabouts of the person concerned are known, consider whether or not to visit the location in order to effect an arrest.

. If the person's whereabouts cannot be established, refer to guidance on removing incomplete family units at paragraph 5.

8.2. Follow up visits of this nature are subject to the same requirements for checks, assessments and authorities as the initial visit.

9. Children at Risk

9.1. If an officer involved in family work suspects at any time that a child is or has been the victim of abuse, the police must be alerted immediately.

10. Car seats

The IS has a duty of care to persons in its custody. In normal circumstances approved child car seats should be used when transporting babies and / or children aged 4 and under.

10.1. However, in some situations consideration may need to be given to allow babies/ children aged 4 or under to travel without a car seat:

. If a child or baby/young child has a disability which would prevent them from using a car seat safely. (This information should have become apparent during the pastoral visit);

. Where a parent refuses to allow their child to be placed into a car seat. Every effort should be made to ensure that the parent understands the safety aspect of the car seat, not only for the child but also for other passengers. If the parent continues to refuse to comply, ask them to sign a waiver, confirming their consent for their child to be transported without the use of a safety seat. This should only occur when all other attempts at co-operation have been exhausted.

10.2. Car seats must be suitable for the age/weight of the child concerned and the vehicle in which they are being fitted and must conform to European Safety Standard R44.03.

10.3. Child car seats may only be installed by appropriately trained persons. All necessary training will be provided locally, either directly by the manufacturer or cascaded down via trained colleagues.

11. Training

11.1. It is desirable that as many officers as possible undertaking arrest team visits to apprehend families are trained in Emergency Life Saving (ELS). However, there must be a minimum of one ELS-trained officer on such visits- either IS staff or seconded police officer. In the case of non-arrest team visits it is expected that the accompanying police officers will be so trained.

11.2. It will be for individual officers to decide whether or not they choose to use their first aid training in a specific situation. However, staff should bear in mind that provisions contained in the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 state that it is the duty of an employee while at work to take reasonable care for the health & safety of himself and others affected by his acts or omissions at work. All staff must immediately call for emergency medical assistance if an incident occurs in their presence.

12. Control and Restraint of Minors

12.1. The control and restraint of minors is limited to where the situation is such that it is becomes necessary for an officer to use physical intervention to prevent harm to the child or any individual present. It is not to be used simply to enforce the removal of children where there is no threat of violence. In the vast majority of cases there will not be a need for officers to exercise physical control or restraint of minors.

12.2. In cases where physical intervention is deemed necessary, officers must ensure that their actions are reasonable, justifiable and proportionate. All physical interventions should be in line with officer safety training. Officers are reminded that this training does not restrict them solely to the techniques taught, a fact that should be borne in mind when dealing with minors in particular. .

12.3.At all times, officers are accountable for, and may have to justify, any decisions and actions they take.

The Operational Enforcement Manual will be updated to reflect these changes in due course.