Foreign National Offenders (Removal)

I have acknowledged that we need to do more in this area, but one cannot look at what has happened over the past few years without considering the increasing number of appeals. A 28% increase in appeals means a significant delay in the ability of the authorities to deal with many of these cases and deport the individuals. Under this Government, we are changing that and, as I said earlier, this week the measure in the Immigration Act that reduces the number of appeals from 17 to four has kicked in. I am sure that will have a real impact on our ability to deport people and to deport them more quickly.