§ Mr. LoveTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the(a) budgeted, (b) actual and (c) projected expenditure by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in each year from 1995 to the end of the current comprehensive spending review period; and if he will make a statement. [25744]
§ Angela EagleThe following sums have been allocated to and spent by the Home Office Immigration and Nationality Directorate since 1994–95.
£ million Budgeted Actual expenditure 1994–95 186 187 1995–96 207 202 1996–97 223 216 1997–98 226 207 1998–99 223 214 1999–2000 794 857 2000–01 1,199 1,251 2001–02 976 — 2002–03 990 — 2003–04 1,045 — Figures include capital expenditure and are in cash terms until 2000–01 and resource terms thereafter.
A significant portion of the overall budget from 1999–2000 onwards relates to asylum support. Up to 1998–99, the budgets were assigned to and expenditure incurred by the Department of Social Security and the Department of Health and not by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. The sums spent are set down in a reply given by the then Home Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn (Mr. Straw) to the hon. Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans) on 9 May 2000, Official Report, column 331W. The budgets for this year and for the two following years are provisional and may be amended following the conclusion of on-going discussions with Her Majesty's Treasury.
543WI shall write to my hon. Friend when I have additional information on the budget and projected expenditure for this year.
§ Mr. Nigel JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if the Immigration and Nationality Directorate is meeting its target for granting applications for indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom as a spouse; and if he will make a statement; [22146]
(2) if the Immigration and Nationality Directorate is meeting its target for granting applications for extensions to visas to study in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [22147]
§ Angela EagleWe aim to decide 70 per cent. of all new general and settlement applications within three weeks but at present it is taking up to eight weeks to consider new straightforward applications. The reasons for this are (i); the exceptionally high number of new applications received this year, and especially, in recent months; and (ii) process changes that are being introduced. We are working to reduce this to three weeks or less as soon as possible. Because of the high intake, those cases which require more detailed consideration are currently taking six months or a little more to complete.
§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on levels of employment at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate at Croydon. [26784]
§ Angela Eagle[holding answer 14 January 2002]: At March 1999, an estimate of the full-time equivalent figure for the number of staff employed in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in Croydon was 1,920. On 1 October 2001, this figure had risen to 3,940. This includes staff dealing with immigration casework as well as those who work in a support function.