§ Bob RussellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many items of correspondence from hon. and right hon. Members are currently being processed by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate; what the average length of time is in dealing with such cases; what action he proposes to take to assist IND in dealing with the backlog of cases; and if he will make a statement; [9]
(2) how many items of correspondence from hon. and right hon. Members were dealt with by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in each of the last three years for which figures are available; what the levels of staffing were in each year; and if he will make a statement. [8]
§ Angela EagleFigures on the number of items of correspondence from Members of Parliament dealt with by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) and IND's staffing levels in the last three years are set out in the following table:
1998 1999 2000 Number of letters from MPs received by IND1 8,518 10,092 10,566 Number of staff in IND at end of calendar year 5,229 5,834 8,538 1 Excludes cases from MPs addressed directly to IND, for which corresponding figures are unavailable In May 2001, IND dealt with 698 items of such correspondence with an average turnaround time of 38 days. At the end of May 2001 the number of letters from MPs to Ministers awaiting a reply was 1,634, and the number of letters from MPs addressed directly to IND awaiting a reply on 21 June was 2,564. Priority is being given, with the use of overtime, to reducing the backlog of outstanding correspondence. IND also operates a MPs Hotline which provides MPs with a dedicated telephone inquiry point and is intended to reduce the need to correspond on immigration and nationality-related matters. Further significant improvements are being sought to the service, so that the time taken to reply to correspondence continues to be reduced.