§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the length of time for which the public enumerator board has been out of action at the public inquiry office at Lunar house, Croydon; and what steps he is taking to ensure that it is operative.
§ Mr. RentonThe enumerator board in the immigration public inquiry office at Lunar house was out of action for three months. It is now fully operational.
§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the purpose of the visit by the Minister of State, the hon. Member for Mid-Sussex (Mr. Renton) to Lunar house, Croydon, on Friday 12 February; and how long he spent in meetings with the trades unions.
§ Mr. RentonI visited Lunar house on Friday 12 February to discuss with officials in the immigration and nationality department proposals to speed up the handling of the backlog of citizenship applications. I announced the specific steps we are taking on Tuesday 16 February at columns 862–63. I did not meet the trades unions on 12 February but, because of their great concern, which was reported to me, I plan to do so on Tuesday 23 February.
§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will estimate how many of the unopened items of mail presently at Lunar house, Croydon, relate to(a) applications for citizenship and (b) variations of leave.
§ Mr. RentonNinety five thousand applications for citizenship are unopened and a further 54,000 applications for citizenship have been opened but not acknowledged; 58,000 other items of mail, many of them relating to variations of leave, are unopened.