§ 32. Mr. George Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average length of time taken for Home Office Ministers to reply to letter from Members of Parliament about immigration cases.
§ Mr. SharplesOwing to seasonal and other factors affecting the volume of work, this would vary at different times of the year, and an average for any one time would not be a reliable guide. But I am well aware that on occasions it has taken an unduly long time to send a reply. Steps have been taken to reduce delay.
§ Mr. CunninghamI welcome the last part of the Minister's reply. Does he 673 realise that the delay in answering this type of inquiry is much greater than the delay in answering other inquiries? This appears to be due to the slow and imperfect communications between the Home Office and diplomatic missions overseas. Will the Minister see whether that aspect can be improved?
§ Mr. SharplesYes, Sir. I appreciate that this is often the cause of delay. We are doing what we can to speed this up.
§ Mr. Clinton DavisIs the Minister further aware of the delay which is experienced by many people who call at the Aliens Department in having their cases attended to? Is there not a case for employing a larger number of people in this Department?
Mr. SharpiesThe staff in the Immigration Department has been increased, but the Department gets something like half a million letters, 200,000 callers and more than 100,000 telephone calls a year. The Department has to do a very large volume of work.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesMay we have an assurance that the political need at party conference time to say that the Government are cutting down the number of civil servants will not lead to a shortage of civil servants in some departments? I suspect—and I do not put the blame on anybody—that this is true of the Immigration Department, given the large number of people who call there.
§ Mr. SharplesAs I said, we are taking steps to try to improve the position. This involves a certain readjustment of staff.