More foreign criminals are being removed from the UK in a push to free up space in prisons, analysis of government figures shows.
There were 10,772 foreign nationals in custody in June this year, according to Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data – making up 12 per cent of the total prison population.
In a push to move foreign criminals out of prison faster, ministers introduced legislation this summer to allow foreign prisoners to be deported after serving 30 per cent of their jail time rather than 50 per cent.
Now, analysis of MoJ statistics has found that the number of prisoners being removed from the country early is on the rise.
The number of foreign national offenders (FNOs) removed from the UK has increased by 12 per cent year-on-year, according to transparency data published by the government this month. Some 5,430 FNOs were returned in the year up to October 2025, compared to 4,861 in the previous year. This includes both enforced and voluntary returns.
Of these, there have been 2,706 returns under the early removal scheme. This is a 2 per cent increase compared to the same period 12 months prior, government data shows.
It is also up from 1,569 in the last full year of the Conservative government, according to Labour analysis. Labour said removals are up 74 per cent when compared to two years previously.
However, an increase in removals has not had much impact on the overall number of foreign nationals in custody. Figures for September 2025 showed 3,719 foreign nationals on remand in prison, and 6,691 criminals who had been sentenced.
This was up on 3,626 on remand, and 6,450 sentenced in September last year.
As part of a desperate scramble to reduce overcrowding in jails, foreign national offenders have been moved from prisons into immigration detention sites.
This has led to male immigration detention centres becoming increasingly unsafe, while drug use, which has rarely been a problem in the centres in the past, has become a big concern.
A report by the Independent Monitoring Board, which oversees prisons and detention centres, revealed earlier this year that foreign offenders wanted to book their own flights to leave the UK, but Home Office policy prevented them from leaving.
Justice secretary David Lammy told MPs on Tuesday that “our prisons are in a dire state” and said that removing foreign national offenders from the estate “is a subject that the public care a lot about”.
Jake Richards, parliamentary under-secretary of state for sentencing, said: “This Labour government is taking radical action to deport foreign criminals. Deportations are up, and our changes are ensuring they happen earlier and faster than before.
“We will go further by rebalancing how human rights law is applied at home, and pursuing change internationally, to ensure offenders cannot abuse our laws.”
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