§ Mr. Alisonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in relation to the figure of 35,000 immigrants from the New Commonwealth admitted for settlement in Great Britain during 1975 given in theOfficial Report (Lords), column 556, on 24th June 1976, what were the countries of origin, and the nationalities of the husbands, wives, children and other dependants enumerated in the total figure referred to.
§ Dr. SummerskillThe figure of 35,000 referred to the New Commonwealth and Pakistan. The available information is contained in Tables 2(a) and 2(b) of Control of Immigration: Statistics 1975 (Cmnd. 6504).
§ Mr. Alisonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, in relation 788W to the dependants of United Kingdom passport holders entitled to enter Great Britain under the special voucher scheme, it is normal practice for such dependants to be given leave to enter simultaneously with the relevant head of family, or whether dependants are admitted separately and later.
§ Dr. SummerskillThe majority of the special vouchers are issued in East and Central Africa, where, in general, families accompany the head of household to the United Kingdom and are given leave to enter with him.
§ Mr. Alisonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total number of Asian immigrants from East Africa admitted for settlement in Great Britain in 1975, under the special voucher scheme, broken down so as to show separately: (a) passport holders who were heads of families, (b) dependants of such heads of families who also held passports and (c) such dependants who did not hold passports; and what categories of dependant are eligible for entry to Great Britain under the special voucher scheme.
§ Dr. SummerskillThe relevant statistics are classified by the country or territory issuing the passport. In 1975, 8,192 United Kingdom passport holders were accepted for settlement on arrival in the United Kingdom from East Africa; of these, 2,785 were special voucher holders and the great majority of the remainder were dependants. The statistics do not distinguish among the remainder those United Kingdom passport holders who may have entered as dependants of people holding passports issued by other countries, nor do they separately identify the dependants of voucher holders who do not themselves hold United Kingdom passports. The dependants eligible to accompany or join special voucher holders are defined in the Immigration Rules.
§ Mr. Alisonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what entitlement as to dependent wives, husbands, children or other dependent categories applies in the case of patrials seeking a right of entry for settlement into Great Britain for their dependants in such categories; and in what respect patrials rights 789W as to dependants differ from those of non-patrials.
§ Dr. SummerskillAs to the admissibility of dependants who are not themselves patrial, I would refer the hon. Member to the Immigration Act 1971 and the Immigration Rules. The rules provide that an eligible dependant of a person settled here—or who is on the same occasion given indefinite leave to enter—is not to be admitted unless that person is able and willing to support the dependant without recourse to public funds; but this requirement does not apply to the admission of the wife or a child under 18 of a patrial or of a Commonwealth citizen who was settled in the United Kingdom on the coming into force of the Immigration Act 1971, or to the dependants of nationals of the EEC countries. In addition, it would be undesirable and inconsistent with the object of the special voucher scheme to refuse admission to the small proportion of United Kingdom passport holders and their families who are unable to provide for themselves immediately on arrival here under the scheme.
§ Mr. Alisonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department in relation to patrials (a) how many immigrants from the New Commonwealth were registered as patrial in each of the last five years and (b) how many non-patrial New Commonwealth immigrants now settled in Great Britain are likely to be eligible to apply for patrial status in the next 10 years, by the passage of the relevant time condition.
§ Dr. SummerskillThe numbers of citizens of New Commonwealth countries who were registered in the United Kingdom as citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies in the years 1971–75 were as follows:
1971 … 26,382 1972 … 31,844 1973 … 33,669 (including 15,896 citizens of Pakistan) 1974 … 56,904 (including 40,094 citizens of Pakistan) 1975 … 50,518 (including 29,365 citizens of Pakistan) People who are registered in the United Kingdom automatically become patrial under Section 2(1)(a) of the Immigration Act 1971. The only exceptions are women who have been registered under 790W Section 6(2) of the British Nationality Act 1948, by virtue of marriage on or after 28th October 1971 to men who had citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies.
I shall write to the hon. Member shortly on the matter raised in the second part of his Question.
§ Mr. Alisonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what categories of dependant are "entitled dependants" in relation to immigrants from the New Commonwealth; in what the "entitlement" consists; to what remaining numbers of potential immigrants not yet settled in Great Britain this entitlement extends; and what procedures, such as entry clearance, are applicable to entitled dependants in controlling their rate of entry.
§ Dr. SummerskillI would refer the hon. Member, on the first two parts of the Question, to the relevant legislation and the rules made under it. On the third part of the Question, it has never been the practice to publish estimates of potential immigrants since any such estimates would be speculative. My right hon. Friend recently announced in this context the appointment of a group of parliamentarians under the chairmanship of Lord Franks to examine the feasibility of a register of dependants. On the last part of the Question, entry clearance procedures are directed to determining eligibility, not to controlling the rate of entry.