§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received concerning conditions in the Immigration Office at the British High Commission in Islamabad; and if he will make a statement. [52048]
§ Mr. FatchettDuring 1997 we received representations from many Members of Parliament about the handling of individual visa applications and the standard of service provided by the Immigration Section at our High Commission in Islamabad. A combination of staff shortages and computer failures during the busy summer season in 1997 had resulted in a deterioration in service standards.
A programme of change (including increases in staff numbers, training programmes and improvements to public waiting areas) initiated at the beginning of this year has resulted in improvement in the quality of service. We are doing all that we can to maintain standards during the current summer peak season for visa applications.