§ Mrs. EllmanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what plans he has to reduce the backlog on immigration nationality work at the Liverpool Nationality Directorate; [38982]
(2) what plans he has to change the nature of the work undertaken at the IND in Liverpool;[38653]
(3) what plans he has for the staffing of the IND at Liverpool for 1999–2000. [38663]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienWe have no plans at present to change the nature of the work undertaken by the Nationality Directorate in Liverpool. The computerisation of the casework process, which is being introduced into the Immigration and Nationality Directorate later this year, would allow eventually for some additional non-nationality work to be undertaken in Liverpool, but the staff there would need to be trained to process such work and we have no plans for this at present. The immediate goal is to reduce the present backlog of nationality applications awaiting determination. Recent organisational and procedural changes should help to reduce the number of outstanding applications.
The plans for 1999–2000 have not yet been settled.