Ed Balls: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer by the Minister of State for Security and Counter-Terrorism of 2 November 2010, Official Report, House of Lords, column 1562, on immigration: deportation, if she will publish the UK Border Agency's guidance for private companies on the use of restraint in forced deportations. [23377]

Mrs May: The guidance to which you refer is the Use of Force Manual, owned by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). The document is restricted on the grounds that knowledge of the specific techniques it contains could be used against officers or to counter attempts to restrain individuals, thus putting at risk good order and discipline in prisons, immigration removal centres and during the escorting of individuals for removal.

For this reason I cannot release a full copy of the manual but arrangements are being made for a redacted version to be placed in the House Library. This contains information about communication skills, medical considerations, personal safety and production of incident reports. The sections detailing the various restraint techniques have been removed.

The UK Border Agency's operating standards for escorts includes one about the use of restraint. The standards are available on the UK Border Agency's website at: