§ Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
§ With reference to Clause 56 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill, what proportion of those currently held in immigration detention centres are awaiting (a) an initial decision on their application for refugee status or (b) the outcome of an appeal to the Immigration Appeals Authority. [HL4902]
§ Lord FilkinThe latest available data show that at 30 March 2002, 1,160 detainees (rounded to the nearest five) were held in immigration removal centres. Of these, 1,000 (86 per cent) had at some stage claimed asylum.
I regret that the information requested regarding the stage of initial decisions and appeals is not available and could be obtained only by examining individual case files at disproportionate cost.
Information on Immigration Act detainees as at 29 June will be published on 30 August on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http:// www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration 1 .html
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many applications for refugee status or exceptional leave to remain were outstanding for more than 12 months at the most recent date. [HL4942]
§ Lord FilkinAs at the end of March 2002 (the latest date for which figures are available) the number of asylum applications outstanding for more than 12 months is estimated to be 16,100. This includes some cases which are currently in action and compares with 23,000 such applications as at the end of March 2001.