Plans to publish the nationalities of foreign criminals in the UK for the first time will not be released until at least the end of the year as officials face issues over data quality.
The Home Office announced work is being done to improve data processes on the group of offenders before it can be used for statistics.
These include analysis such as the crimes they have been convicted of, the length of their sentence and nationality.
Work to improve recording data on foreign national offenders (FNOs) and an upgrade to the management information system is “currently under way” amid efforts to boost transparency on the issue.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Once these changes have been completed, our ability to provide accurate extracts and more detailed information will be significantly improved.
“By the end of 2025, if this work progresses as planned, the Home Office proposes to publish more detailed statistical reporting on FNOs subject to deportation and those returned to countries outside of the UK.”
The Home Office will continue to publish summary information on foreign criminals being returned to their home countries each quarter, as well as further breakdowns on type of offences committed or nationality in “experimental statistics”.
Government sources have insisted the move was only possible because Home SecretaryYvette Cooper had ordered Home Office statisticians to overhaul their systems after they cited poor data quality when refusing to answer questions about the nationalities of foreign offenders.
A Home Office source said: “Not only are we deporting foreign criminals at a rate never seen when Chris Philp and Robert Jenrick were in charge at the Home Office, but we will also be publishing far more information about that cohort of offenders than the Tories ever did.”
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the announcement showed Labour had “buckled” under pressure from the Conservatives to disclose the data.
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The latest figures show there were 19,244 foreign offenders awaiting deportation at the end of 2024, up from 17,907 when the Conservatives left office in July and 14,640 at the end of 2022.
This rise came despite 3,594 offenders being deported in Labour’s first nine months in office, a 16% increase on the same period in the previous 12 months.
A combination of early release due to prison overcrowding, instability and diplomatic obstruction from some other countries, and a backlog of human rights appeals against deportation, are understood to have contributed to the increase in offenders awaiting deportation.
A Home Office source said: “Any foreign national who abuses our country’s hospitality and commits serious crimes should be in no doubt that they will face the full force of the law, and be removed from the UK at the earliest opportunity.
“But we also want to ensure the public is kept better informed about the number of foreign criminals awaiting deportation, where they are from and the crimes they have committed, which is why – for the first time – ministers have tasked officials specifically with producing a greater range of data on this category of offenders, and ensuring that data is published in future in an open and transparent way.”
Foreign nationals sentenced to 12 months or more in prison are subject to automatic deportation, but the Home Secretary can seek the removal of people who receive a lesser sentence if their presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good.
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick had welcomed the news, saying: “We will finally see the hard reality that mass migration is fuelling crime across our country.”
Mr Jenrick, who was a minister in the Home Office under the previous government, added: “Frankly, the public deserved to know this long ago.”