HL Deb 23 March 1999 vol 598 cc143-4WA
Lord Avebury

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will explain the causes of the failure of computer systems used by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate of the Home Office; the steps being taken to remedy the problems; the estimated time-scale for completion of the work, and the probable delays in processing asylum applications; and whether they will include a copy of this statement with all letters from Ministers responding to Members inquiring about delays in relation to particular asylum applications. [HL1544]

Lord Williams of Mostyn

As the noble Lord is aware from my Written Answer on 13 October col. 96, the Integrated Casework Directorate was implemented last year with only a part of the Information Technology (IT) system, which is to be delivered later this year. The present disruption to Immigration and Nationality Directorate services to the public is in part attributable to the delay in making the full IT system available. A number of steps have been taken to improve the present situation including taking on additional staff and running special exercises to target priority cases. We are aiming to provide our normal service as soon as possible.