§ Mrs. WiseTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the approximate date of application of the naturalisation applications which are currently being processed;
(2) how long it will take to process the naturalisation applications which have been outstanding for more than one year.
§ Mr. RentonApplications for naturalisation currently being processed span a wide spread of dates but the average time taken to complete such applications in January 1989 was 21 months. It is not possible to give a reliable forecast of how long naturalisation applications which have been outstanding for more than one year will take to complete.
§ Mrs. WiseTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of his staff are engaged on processing naturalisation applications.
§ Mr. RentonOn 31 January 1989 171 staff in the nationality division were engaged on processing naturalisation applications.