§ Mr. MalinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what targets have been set for(a) processing entry clearance applications at British posts overseas for (i) permanent settlement and (ii) temporary purposes, (b) the dispatch of explanatory statements where an appeal against refusal is lodged and (c) the retention of explanatory statements by the Home Office before dispatch to the Immigration Appellate Authority; and how those targets have been met over the last 12 months for which figures are available.[144621]
§ Mr. MullinI can confirm that the following targets have been set: 243W
90 per cent. of entry clearance issuing posts to interview settlement entry clearance applicants within a set target time. The target time is 12 weeks except for New Delhi, Bombay, Dhaka and Islamabad; separate targets, currently nine months apply for these posts due to the high number of settlement applications received. The latest performance measurements, covering the period 1 April to 31 October 2003, indicate that 98.4 per cent. of posts have met their target.90 per cent. of straightforward non-settlement entry clearance applications to be decided within 24 hours. The latest performance measurement against this target, covering the period 1 April to 31 October 2003. is 91.7 per cent.90 per cent. of posts to make a decision within 10 working days on non-settlement applications requiring an interview. The latest performance measurement against this target, covering the same period, is 88.0 per cent.For settlement applications UKvisas' Best Practice gives a target of three months between the receipt of an appeal by the post abroad and its dispatch to the Appeals Processing Centre of the Home Office. For all non-settlement applications the target is one month. Figures for performance against these targets are done on a post-by-post basis and technical problems has meant that the figures are unreliable.I understand that there are no targets set by the Home Office for the processing of entry clearance appeals once received by the Appeals Processing Centre. The processing of all appeals is dictated by the capacity of the Immigration Appellate Authority which is able to accept 7,100 cases per month. Ministerial priority states that 6,000 of these must be asylum cases, if these are available. This has been the case until October 2003. Significantly more entry clearance cases have been sent since then and this is set to continue over the next few months.