Foreign criminals should be deported immediately or after serving just a fraction of their sentences to free up space in jails, a review commissioned by Labour will urge this week.
The existing 'early removal scheme' which allows foreign national offenders to be deported after serving 50 per cent of their sentence should be brought forward to the 30 per cent point, the report will recommend.
Combined with the additional early release scheme launched by Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood last year, it means foreign prisoners would serve just 12 per cent of their sentence.
The independent review, appointed by Labour to former Tory justice secretary David Gauke, will also recommend foreign offenders handed less than three years should be immediately deported.
His suggestions are likely to be adopted by ministers. His changes would cut back the millions of pounds of taxpayers' money a year currently used to imprison foreign nationals and create more headroom in overcrowded jails. He will also propose giving the Home Office stronger powers to remove foreign offenders 'as quickly as possible'. However the review might not address how officials can move around the stringent Human Rights Act in relation to criminal deportations.
