§ Mr. Maddenasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for British citizenship under (a) section (5) and (b) section 4(5) of the British Nationality Act 1981 were (i) received, (ii) granted and (iii) outstanding between the following dates (1) 1 January 1983 to 31 March 1983, (2) 1 April 1983 to 31 March 1984, (3) 1 April 1984 to 31 March 1985 and (4) 1 April 1985 to the present time.
§ Mr. WaddingtonThe following is the information requested for section 4(5) of the British Nationality Act 1981:
Applications under section 4(5) Received Granted 1 January 1983 to 31 March 1983 0 0 1 April 1983 to 31 March 1984 0 0 1 April 1984 to 31 March 1985 237 0 1 April 1985 to 31 January 1986 221 1 Two hundred and thirty-seven applications were outstanding at 31 March 1985; 456 applications were outstanding at 31 January 1986. One application has been refused.
The number of applications granted under section 5 of the British Nationality Act 1981 during the same period was:
42W
Applications granted under section 5 Number 1 January 1983 to 31 March 1983 1,292 1 April 1983 to 31 March 1984 5,819 1 April 1984 to 31 March 1985 981 1 April 1985 to 31 March 1986 234 Corresponding information on applications received and outstanding is not available.
§ Mr. Maddenasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department into which account in his Department the fees accruing from applications made under (a) section 5 of the British Nationality Act 1981 and (b) section 4(5) of the Act are paid.
§ Mr. WaddingtonApplications under section 5 of the British Nationality Act 1981 are made to and processed by the governor of Gibraltar, for a fee decided by and credited to the Government of Gibraltar. The fees for applications under section 4(5) of the British Nationality Act 1981 are taken as appropriations in aid into class IX vote 7, and are accounted for in the appropriation account for the vote.
§ Mr. Maddenasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for British citizenship were received, granted and outstanding, respectively, in each month since March 1985.
§ Mr. WaddingtonThe available information is as follows:
Applications for British citizenship Received Granted Outstanding 1985 April 4,088 3,702 — May 3,799 2,916 — June 3,259 3,447 — July 4 157 4,811 *35,598 August 3,900 3,958 — September 3,533 4,097 — October 4,398 5,445 — November 4,622 6,577 *32,678 December 3,656 2,911 — 1986 January 3,892 3,779 — * Outstanding applications are counted by a periodic stocktake.
§ Mr. Maddenasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the estimated cost per application of processing applications for (a) adult registration, (b) naturalisation and (c) registration of minor children in (i) 1985–86 and (ii) 1986–87.
§ Mr. WaddingtonThe average estimated cost per application in 1985–86 for the registration of adults and minors is £55; for the naturalisation of the spouses of British citizens it is £55; and for other naturalisations it is £160. Estimates for 1986–87 are currently being prepared in the light of the overall planning assumptions announced in the White Paper on public expenditure published on 15 January.