§ Ms WardTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of immigration cases required the production of DNA tests to prove family relationships in each of the last three years. [88220]
§ Mr. HoonDNA testing is used only in determining settlement applications. The statistics requested are as follows:
Year Settlement cases DNA tests commissioned Percentage 1996 40,524 2,078 5.1 1997 48,149 1,743 3.6 1998 53,483 32,310 6.0 Details of the number of tests commissioned by individual posts can be obtained from the summary of entry clearance statistics, copies of which are available in the House of Commons Library. The 1998 statistics are being printed and are scheduled to be placed in the House Library within the next two weeks.