§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons resident in Pakistan whose asylum applications were determined in each of the last three years had to wait more than(a) five years, (b) six years, (c) seven years, (d) eight years, (e) nine years and (f) 10 years for them to be finally determined. [32219]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe available information is given in the table and relates to the time taken to reach an initial decision on those asylum applications lodged in the United Kingdom by nationals of Pakistan.
Number of initial decisions made in 1995, 1996 and 1997 on asylum applications lodged in the United Kingdom for nationals of Pakistan, by time taken to reach an initial decision1 Percentage1 Year of initial decision Time between application and initial decision 1995 1996 1997 5 years or less 98 98 87 Between 5–6 years 1 1 7 Between 6–7 years — — 6 Between 7–8 years — — 1 Between 8–9 years — — — Between 9–10 years — — — 10 years or more — — — Total 1,680(100%) 2,640(100%) 2,925(100%) 1 Estimated proportions rounded to the nearest one per cent. Due to rounding individual columns may not total 100 per cent.