Immigration and Asylum Appeals (Hansard, 10 July 1995)

§ 27. Mr. Gerrard
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement on delays in the processing of immigration and asylum appeals. [31465]

The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (Mr. John M. Taylor)
My Department aims to keep waiting times in all cases to a minimum. Steps have been taken to combat the particular increase in waiting times in London resulting from the concentration there of asylum cases.

§ Mr. Gerrard
I am sure that the Minister will accept that a huge backlog of cases has built up and that waiting times are unacceptable. Is he aware that the Refugee Legal Centre has had to withdraw from all regions except London and the south-east because it simply cannot cope with the numbers involved, and that the United Kingdom Immigrants Advisory Service is under enormous pressure? What provision will be made to help organisations such as those, so that asylum seekers have the proper representation that they need at appeals? Will he take this opportunity to deny that his Government are thinking of taking away rights to oral appeal for some asylum seekers?

Mr. Taylor
I think that I should oblige with the denial, but on the more general part of the question, the hon. Gentleman is right to draw the House's attention to the real concerns—of which I am very much aware—that exist, especially in London and the south-east. Various measures are being taken. In some cases, the appellate authority does not allocate a specific date, but offers an early hearing date if another case is adjourned or withdrawn. More flexible listing has been introduced. If the parties agree, appeals can be transferred to centres where waiting times are shorter. The pool of adjudicators is being increased and courtroom accommodation is being expanded, but I am as far as I could be from being complacent about those matters.

§ Mr. Harry Greenway
Will my hon. Friend look at accommodation for asylum seekers? A couple of years ago, a whole year's supply of new housing in Ealing was taken up by asylum seekers and others, so my constituents are concerned that those matters be expedited. Does he have any plans to use barracks for asylum seekers? May we have some clarification on his plans for that matter?

Mr. Taylor
I have no plans, personally, for using barracks for asylum seekers. I am not sure whether the House would consider that that was appropriate, but I draw its attention to the fact that, under the 1993 asylum 619 appeals procedure rules, formal time limits apply to asylum appeals and no time limits apply to immigration appeals.

§ Mr. Pike
Does the Minister believe that he receives adequate co-operation from the other Government Departments involved in appeals? The delays are unacceptable, and on many occasions it seems as though the Home Office or the Foreign Office is holding up the Minister's Department in going ahead with the appeal.

Mr. Taylor
One strives to get the best possible co-operation. An increase in the number of asylum applications received by the Home Office has inevitably resulted in an increase in appeals. Following an interdepartmental initiative, extra resources are being made available to both Departments to speed up the disposal of work.