Pilots to Allow Councils to Deport Ex-Offenders

Council housing departments will help to deport repeat offenders from Eastern Europe in a bid to crack down on homelessness as part of two government-backed projects.  Exeter and Leeds councils start pilots this month that will see housing staff work with local prisons and the UK Border Agency to aggregate sentences of European foreign nationals being released from jail to enable them to be sent home.  Immigration authorities can deport European citizens if they have received a prison sentence of more than two years. But under the pilots, the councils will deport individuals if they have a number of short sentences amounting to two years. The individuals will be offered drug and alcohol treatment and free travel home.  Central and Eastern Europeans are the fastest-growing group of rough sleepers in England. If the pilots are successful they could be rolled out across the UK. Read more on Inside Housing.