The Early Removal Scheme (ERS) allows for determinate sentenced prisoners liable to removal from the UK to be removed from prison before the end of the custodial part of the sentence for the purpose of immediate deportation. Terrorist offenders are excluded from removal under ERS. Once removed, they are not subject to further imprisonment, but they cannot legally return to the UK. If they do, they will be liable to serve the rest of their sentence from the point they were deported.
	This Act removes the requirement that an offender serve a minimum pre-removal custodial period, and provides that there be no maximum removal period before an eligible offender can be removed. This means that a foreign national offender to whom this section applies can be removed for the purposes of immediate deportation any time after sentence.
Policy background Part 2: Management of offenders after sentencing Early Removal of prisoners liable to removal from the United Kingdom