§ Mr. HeathTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the(a) staff numbers and (b) funding have been of (i) the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (ii) the Joint Entry Clearance Unit for each of the last five years; and what levels are planned for the next two years. [30989]
§ Angela EagleThe staff numbers in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (actual and estimated) are shown in the table:
Staff numbers April 1997 5,697 April 1998 5,160 April 1999 5,750 April 2000 6,582 April 2001 9,757 April 2002 10,878 April 2003 12,500 April 2004 12,900 On the funding of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 18 January 2002, to my hon. Friend, the Member for Edmonton (Mr. Love), Official Report, column 546W.
1126WThe Joint Entry Clearance Unit (JECU) was established in June 2000 with an establishment of 59 staff. This was increased to 76 in the following year but there are no plans for further staff increases.
Details of JECU's costs and funding (past and future plans) are given in the Foreign and Commonwealth Department Report, copies of which are available in the Library.